New research on teenagers and high risk drinking now available

New research about risky drinking behaviour and related harm among Australian teenagers is now available.

Led by the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) at Curtin University, the ‘Young Australians Alcohol Reporting System’ (YAARS) examined the drinking behaviour of 3,500 Australian 14-19 year olds who were considered the ‘top 25% of drinkers in their age bracket’.

National and state specific YAARS reports are available at: https://ndri.curtin.edu.au/research/research-specific-sites/young-australians-alcohol-reporting-system

Main Findings

Half of the survey participants were consuming 11 or more standard drinks per session at least once a month.
Most (83%) had been injured as a result of their drinking in the past 12 months. Saying or doing embarrassing things, vomiting, doing impulsive things and blacking out as a result of their drinking were also common.
The research found that unsupervised drinking in non-licensed locations was the norm – 90% spent time drinking in private locations such as homes at least once a month.
The young people were conscious of these drinking outcomes and actively tried to mitigate against harms with a variety of safety strategies.

Posted on: 26 Mar 2018

news list