NCJ Number
195261
Journal
Addiction Volume: 97 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2002 Pages: 583-594
Date Published
2002
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This Australian study examined levels of effect, depression, and anxiety over the full range of alcohol consumption in young adults.
Abstract
Data for this study were collected within the PATH Through Life project. This is an ongoing, longitudinal project that is following three baseline age groups (20-24, 40-44, and 60-64 years). Participants will be reinterviewed every 4 years for 20 years. The current study reports on a cross-sectional analysis of the first wave of interviews with the 20-24 age group (n=2,404), which was conducted from March 1999 to February 2000 in the Canberra region. Measures included the Goldberg Depression and Anxiety scales, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. For men, both non/occasional use and hazardous/harmful consumption were associated with lower levels of positive effect and higher levels of anxiety and depression. The higher levels of distress evident for male abstainers were related to being less extroverted and less healthy and not to past hazardous/harmful alcohol consumption, current tobacco use, or marijuana use. For women, only hazardous/harmful drinkers were found to have higher levels of depression and negative effect. Hazardous/harmful consumption was related to using marijuana, using tobacco, and recent stressful events in both men and women. Higher levels of distress were already evident in male nondrinkers in early adulthood. These findings counter theories that distress in nondrinkers is due to past hazardous/harmful alcohol consumption, marijuana or tobacco use, or characteristics in common with hazardous/harmful drinkers. Alcohol-use disorders and mental health problems are pertinent issues for young adults; however, more understanding of the experiences of nondrinkers in an alcohol-consuming culture is needed. 1 figure, 4 tables, and 56 references