Suchergebnisse

Abstract

Aims
This exploratory study aims to model the impact of sex and age on the percentage of pre-drinking in 27 countries, presenting a single model of pre-drinking behaviour for all countries and then comparing the role of sex and age on pre-drinking behaviour between countries.


Methods
Using data from the Global Drug Survey, the percentages of pre-drinkers were estimated for 27 countries from 64,485 respondents. Bivariate and multivariate multilevel models were used to investigate and compare the percentage of pre-drinking by sex (male and female) and age (16–35 years) between countries.


Results
The estimated percentage of pre-drinkers per country ranged from 17.8% (Greece) to 85.6% (Ireland). The influence of sex and age on pre-drinking showed large variation between the 27 countries. With the exception of Canada and Denmark, higher percentages of males engaged in pre-drinking compared to females, at all ages. While we noted a decline in pre-drinking probability among respondents in all countries after 21 years of age, after the age of 30 this probability remained constant in some countries, or even increased in Brazil, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States.


Conclusions
Pre-drinking is a worldwide phenomenon, but varies substantially by sex and age between countries. These variations suggest that policy-makers would benefit from increased understanding of the particularities of pre-drinking in their own country to efficiently target harmful pre-drinking behaviours.

Abstract

Background
Music is an integral part of our lives and is often played in public places like restaurants. People exposed to music that contained alcohol-related lyrics in a bar scenario consumed significantly more alcohol than those exposed to music with less alcohol-related lyrics. Existing methods to quantify alcohol exposure in song lyrics have used manual annotation that is burdensome and time intensive. In this paper, we aim to build a deep learning algorithm (LYDIA) that can automatically detect and identify alcohol exposure and its context in song lyrics.


Methods
We identified 673 potentially alcohol-related words including brand names, urban slang, and beverage names. We collected all the lyrics from the Billboard's top-100 songs from 1959 to 2020 (N = 6110). We developed an annotation tool to annotate both the alcohol-relation of the word (alcohol, non-alcohol, or unsure) and the context (positive, negative, or neutral) of the word in the song lyrics.


Results
LYDIA achieved an accuracy of 86.6% in identifying the alcohol-relation of the word, and 72.9% in identifying its context. LYDIA can distinguish with an accuracy of 97.24% between the words that have positive and negative relation to alcohol; and with an accuracy of 98.37% between the positive and negative context.


Conclusion
LYDIA can automatically identify alcohol exposure and its context in song lyrics, which will allow for the swift analysis of future lyrics and can be used to help raise awareness about the amount of alcohol in music.
Highlights Developed a deep learning algorithm (LYDIA) to identify alcohol words in songs. LYDIA achieved an accuracy of 86.6% in identifying alcohol-relation of the words. LYDIA's accuracy in identifying positive, negative, or neutral context was 72.9%. LYDIA can automatically provide evidence of alcohol in millions of songs. This can raise awareness of harms of listening to songs with alcohol words.

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Evidence suggests an association between perceived alcohol-related norms and personal consumption. These perceptions develop over years of observation and exposure to alcohol, likely beginning in early childhood, and likely differing by sex. Understanding the early development of perceptions of drinking may provide insight into the development of gendered drinking practices. The aim of this study was to explore boys' and girls' perceptions about men and women's alcohol consumption and whether and how these change over time as children age. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> 329 children (aged 4–6 years at baseline) completed the Dutch electronic Appropriate Beverage Task annually for three consecutive years (2015 [baseline], 2016, 2017). Regression models were used to examine whether perceptions of consumption varied as a function of the gender of the adult, the participants' sex, and any changes over time. <b><i>Results:</i></b> In illustrated pictures, children perceived that men (39%) drank alcoholic beverages more often than women (24%). Men were perceived to drink alcohol more frequently than women at baseline and this difference increased with age. Girls were more likely to perceive men drinking at baseline (aged 4–6), but there were few sex differences by time point three (aged 6–8). <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> From a young age, children perceive that men drink more than women. These perceptions strengthen as children grow older, with young girls perceiving these gender differences at earlier ages than boys. Understanding children's perceptions of gendered drinking norms and their development over time can enable targeted prevention efforts.

Abstract

Aims
Limited cross-sectional studies have indicated that young children have some knowledge of the type of situations in which adults usually consume alcohol. However, it is unclear when and how this knowledge develops over time. This study tests the hypothesis that between the ages of 4 and 8, children become more knowledgeable about common drinking situations (e.g. 'partying') and uncommon situations (e.g. 'driving').


Methods
Data of two independent samples were used: a cross-sectional study (parents) and a three-wave longitudinal study (children). Parents and children were recruited via a convenience and random sampling strategy, respectively. To identify common, ambivalent, and uncommon drinking situations, parents (N = 158; 47% men) completed an online survey in which they indicated how common it is that any adult would drink alcohol in the 18 situations of the Dutch electronic appropriate beverage (eABT). Children (N = 329; 48.9% boys) completed the Dutch eABT to assess their knowledge of situations in which adults usually consume alcohol.


Results
General linear model repeated measures with post-hoc pairwise comparisons showed that parents' perceptions of common, ambivalent, and uncommon situations in which adults consume alcohol predicted the initial level and the change over time in children's knowledge of adults' alcohol use in these situations.


Conclusions
Children aged 4–8 become increasingly knowledgeable about drinking norms in specific situations which implies that they know in what kind of situation alcohol consumption is a common human behavior. This knowledge may put them at risk for early alcohol initiation and frequent drinking later in life.

Abstract

Aims
There is new interest in measuring alcohol consumption during risky drinking events, but there is little guidance on how to best ask such questions. In this study, we contrast two different types of questions on peak consumption over a single heavy drinking occasion. We used a general question that ask respondents to recall the total amount consumed (total consumption question), and location-specific questions that ask respondents to recall consumption in each drinking location (location-specific peak consumption, LSPC).


Methods
Heavy drinkers (≥11 Australian Standard Drinks (ASD) per occasion for males, ≥8 for females) from the second wave of a prospective cohort study were recruited via landline random digit dial from Melbourne in 2012. Respondents were randomly assigned to surveys of different question order, and either first received total consumption (n = 127) or LSPC questions (n = 147). T-tests compared peak consumption between categories stratified by sex and consumption tercile.


Results
Mean peak consumption was 12.5 ASD. Irrespective of question order, consumption amounts for total consumption and LSPC questions were not significantly different for both sexes. However, drinkers in the highest tercile asked LSPC questions first provided significantly higher consumption estimates in response to the total consumption question than in response to the LSPC questions.


Conclusion
At a population level, LSPC and total consumption questions produce similar estimates of peak consumption for risky drinking events. Except for heavy drinkers, general consumption questions may be sufficient when asking about these drinking events in consumption surveys, without the greater response burden of longer LSPC questions.

Abstract

Aims
The COVID-19 pandemic presents the opportunity to learn about solitary drinking as many people were forced to spend time at home. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between solitary drinking and living without other adults on alcohol consumption.


Methods
A longitudinal study with four survey waves (between May and November 2020) obtained seven-day drinking diary data from Australian adults living in New South Wales. In May, a convenience sample of 586 participants (Mage = 35.3, SD = 14.8; 65.3% women) completed the first wave. Participants then completed a survey in June (n = 319, 54.4% response rate), July/August (n = 225, 38.4% response rate), and November (n = 222, 37.9% response rate). Information about alcohol consumption including risky drinking (more than four drinks on one occasion), household structure, solitary drinking, and demographics were collected. We conducted random-effects panel bivariate and multivariable regression analyses predicting the number of standard drinks and risky drinking.


Results
Participants with solitary drinking occasions consumed more and had more risky drinking occasions than participants with no solitary drinking occasions, which was also found to be the case during lockdown. Living without other adults was associated with less consumption and less risky drinking than living with other adults. However, participants who lived without other adults and had frequent solitary drinking occasions (solitary drinking in &gt;50% drinking occasions) reported more consumption than participants without a solitary drinking occasion.


Conclusions
Individuals who consume alcohol alone and live without other adults or spend long periods of time at home may be more at risk of alcohol-related harm.