Youth Drinking in Decline
Charlotte Goddard
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
The University of Sheffield's Alcohol Research Group is part of a new project funded by the Wellcome Trust, which aims to examine the patterns and causes of the decline in youth drinking in England.
Report: Youth Drinking in Decline
Published by University of Sheffield, September 2018
SUMMARY
Researchers analysed data from two national surveys - the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Amongst Young People in England surveys between 1988 and 2016, and the Health Survey for England from 2001 to 2016. Both cover children, young people and young adults aged between eight and 24.
The researchers found drinking alcohol has declined significantly across all age groups. The proportion of children between the ages of eight and 12 who had ever had an alcoholic drink fell from 25 per cent in 2002 to four per cent in 2016. The proportion of 11- to 15-year-olds who had drunk alcohol fell from 61 per cent in 2003 to 38 per cent in 2014, when the last comparable data was collected. A key question was changed in 2016 when 44.3 per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds were recorded as ever having drunk alcohol.
The proportion of 16- to 17-year-olds who reported "drinking nowadays" fell from 88 per cent in 2001 to 65 per cent in 2016. Over the same period the proportion of 16- to 24- year-olds reporting "drinking nowadays" fell from 90 per cent to 78 per cent.
The study also found young people who do drink are starting to do so at a later age. For 11- to 15-year-olds the average age for their first alcoholic drink rose from 11.4 in 2004 to 12.6 in 2014, and for 16- and 17-year-olds it increased from 13.6 in 2001 to 14.8 in 2016.
Young people are also drinking alcohol less often and in smaller quantities. Between 2003 and 2016 the proportion of 11- to 15-year-old drinkers who had consumed alcohol in the last week fell from 41 per cent to 19 per cent, and for 16- to 24-year-olds it fell from 75 per cent to 60 per cent. The proportion of 16- and 17-year-olds who exceeded the binge drinking thresholds of six units on one day for women and eight units on one day for men fell from 30 per cent in 2002 to just six per cent in 2016.
In 2004, 17 per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds reported trying to buy alcohol in the last four weeks but this was down to 11 per cent in 2016. Within that group, those who tried to buy alcohol from a pub fell from 48 per cent in 2004 to 24 per cent in 2016. However, there was a smaller decline in those who reported trying to buy alcohol from a shop from 63 per cent to 57 per cent.
Other sources of alcohol remained relatively unchanged over time with between 38 per cent and 45 per cent of 11- to 15-year-old drinkers given alcohol by their parents, around 12 to 15 per cent given alcohol by their siblings and 15 to 20 per cent given alcohol by another relative. There was a drop in the proportion of 11- to 15-year-old drinkers given alcohol by friends, from 47 per cent in 2010 to 36 per cent in 2016.
The proportion of 11- to 15-year-olds who had ever tried smoking also showed a steep decline, falling from 43 per cent in 1998 to 17 per cent in 2016. Meanwhile the proportion who had ever tried cannabis fell from 18 per cent in 2001 to 11 per cent in 2016.
The reason for the decline in youth drinking in England is unclear, say the researchers and the same is true for the decline in youth drinking seen in other countries.
The academics say possible explanations include economic factors, immigration from non-drinking cultures, the rise of internet-based technology, shifts in parenting, changing norms around drinking, improved enforcement of underage sales restrictions and improved child wellbeing.
Implications for practice
The implications for public health of the decline in youth drinking are significant both today and in the future, say the researchers. If young people retain their reduced alcohol consumption into later adulthood then rates of alcohol-related chronic diseases, injury and alcohol dependence may fall substantially. The report authors also say the decline in youth drinking raises important questions about the direction of future alcohol policy. New interventions may be required to reinforce the positive trend while other interventions may need to be increasingly targeted to specific high-risk groups. However, they stress more research is needed on the causes of the decline in youth drinking.
FURTHER READING
Adolescents Drink Less: How, Who and Why? A Review of the Recent Research Literature, Hilde Pape, Ingeborg Rossow and Geir Scott Brunborg, Drug and Alcohol Review, March 2018
Youthful Abandon; Why Are Young People Drinking Less?, Aveek Bhattacharya, Institute of Alcohol Studies, July 2016
Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England in 2014, Elizabeth Fuller, Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2015