Moira Plant

Binge Britain: alcohol and the national response.

This book combines the analysis of UK alcohol policy from historical, contemporary and comparative perspectives. It highlights recent evidence produced by the authors which has revealed an unprecedented rise in heavy drinking amongst young women. It reviews of the role of alcohol in Britain examining why our drinking culture is maintained, including the power of the alcohol industry and development of recent policy.

The role of alcohol in women's lives: a review of issues and responses

This review addresses some of the issues related to womens drinking at a time when this is extremely topical. Evidence suggests that there has been a marked increase in alcohol consumption amongst young women in the United Kingdom (UK). Teenage girls have even been shown to be engaging in ‘binge’ or ‘heavy episodic’ drinking more than their male counterparts. Levels of adverse effects, such as liver disease and psychiatric hospital admissions amongst young women have been increasing. Some of the factors associated with these changes are considered. These include changing social roles, feminism, gender stereotypes, occupation and advertising. Some of the powerful positive effects associated with the consumption of beverage alcohol are considered, together with the adverse consequences. The latter include both acute consequences, such as intoxication, injuries and accidents, as well as long‐term or chronic consequences, such as liver disease, cancer and alcohol dependence. This review also describes some of the available evidence related to treatment for alcohol problems amongst women including special populations, relapse and the issue of professional training. Finally, the implications for both alcohol control policy and research into alcohol‐related issues are considered. It is concluded that existing UK alcohol policies are not fully evidence based. Moreover, research into beverage alcohol in the UK is severely under‐funded.

The Social Consequences of Binge Drinking: A Comparison of Young Adults in Six European Countries

ABSTRACT A considerable amount of survey information was available from general population surveys carried out in six countries between 2000 and 2005. These studies were conducted under the auspices of Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS). A total of 1,446 adults between 18 and 23 years of age and 2,482 adults between 24 and 32 years of age from the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Isle of Man, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom responded to questions about their drinking habits and the social consequences directly resulting from their drinking. Survey methods varied from quota sampling with face-to-face interviewing in Spain and the United Kingdom to telephone surveys in Denmark and Sweden. Response rates varied from 50% to 72%. “Binge” or “heavy episodic” drinking was defined as a usual amount on one occasion of more than 8 UK “units” for men and more than 6 units for women. Consequences investigated comprised relationship, health and financial problems, being asked to cut down on drinking, and being involved in a fight. In Denmark and Sweden, the group aged 24 to 32 years was less likely to be binge drinkers than the 18 to 23 year olds. In the other countries, there was little difference. There was also little difference between the age groups in frequency of drinking, but there were considerable variations in this respect between countries. People in the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Denmark were more likely to suffer at least one consequence than those in Spain and the Isle of Man. In Spain, there was little change between the age groups in this respect. Fights were most common in the United Kingdom. Being asked to cut down ones drinking was less common in Spain and Sweden than it was elsewhere. Findings are discussed in terms of the varied drinking cultures in the different countries.

Contextual Determinants of Alcohol Consumption Changes and Preventive Alcohol Policies: A 12-Country European Study in Progress

Beginning with France in the 1950s, alcohol consumption has decreased in Southern European countries with few or no preventive alcohol policy measures being implemented, while alcohol consumption has been increasing in Northern European countries where historically more restrictive alcohol control policies were in place, even though more recently they were loosened. At the same time, Central and Eastern Europe have shown an intermediate behavior. We propose that country-specific changes in alcohol consumption between 1960 and are explained by a combination of a number of factors: (1) preventive alcohol policies and (2) social, cultural, economic, and demographic determinants. This article describes the methodology of a research study designed to understand the complex interactions that have occurred throughout Europe over the past five decades. These include changes in alcohol consumption, drinking patterns and alcohol-related harm, and the actual determinants of such changes.

Alcohol, gender and partner aggression: a general population study of British adults

This study explored gender differences in the extent that alcohol affects the perceived severity of partner aggression, and assessed the relationship between partner aggression and drinking pattern. Respondents were asked questions related to their own drinking pattern and the most severe incident of physical aggression experienced by and to a spouse/romantic partner during the previous two years as part of a general population survey of 2027 adults in the UK conducted by interviewers using both oral and computer-assisted question format. Approximately, 20% of respondents reported partner aggression, with drinking by one or both partners occurring in 35–40% of incidents. Alcohol use at the time of aggression was associated with increased severity of aggression, anger and fear, especially for aggression by a male toward a female respondent. Drinking patterns of the respondent and the partner predicted alcohol involvement in aggression, but not aggression that did not involve alcohol.

Young people and alcohol

The topic of young people drinking, and its related problems, continues to foster concern and controversy. This review highlights some of the main psychological, social and behavioural evidence related to the formation of childrens attitudes to alcohol, the acquisition of drinking habits by young people and factors associated with patterns of alcohol consumption and its consequences. Some of the implications of this evidence are highlighted, and recommendations are suggested to curb levels of heavy/inappropriate drinking among youth. Many children are hostile to alcohol consumption by adults. The onset of adolescence generally reverses such negative attitudes and drinking is widely viewed by teenagers and young adults in a positive light as a symbol of being adult and sociable. Many young people drink to intoxication as part of the process of learning how to drink. Recent studies show that rates of heavy drinking, intoxication and negative consequences among teenagers vary considerably in different countries. Teenagers in north west Europe (including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland and the UK) report the highest rates, while those in the Mediterranean area report much lower ones. It is concluded that a sensible approach by parents should involve teaching their children to drink in moderation at home and that parents should set boundaries to control and protect their children from harm associated with periodic heavy drinking. School-based alcohol education has generally produced disappointing results and it is suggested that harm minimisation policies should be devised that are relevant to young people.

Life stage, alcohol consumption patterns, alcohol-related consequences and gender

This paper presents findings from a European collaborative study. A common framework for reanalysis of existing data was devised. Alcohol‐related problems encountered were classified as “internal”; and “external.”; Logistic regression analyses were then conducted to predict lifetime presence of any internal problem, any external problem, and any problem at all. The predictor variables were gender, life stage (corresponding roughly to young, middle and older age), past years drinking level in four categories of grams of alcohol per month, and past years “binge”; drinking. All four predictor variables were associated with the presence of alcohol‐related problems, with women and retired people having fewer problems and heavy drinkers and binge drinkers having more. At all levels of alcohol consumption, men were more likely than women to experience at least one adverse consequence. Internal problems were more common than external problems. Country differences are discussed and recommendations are made for further studies.

People and Places: some factors in the alcohol-violence link

The possible association between heavy drinking and intoxication with aggression and violence has been debated for centuries. A select and concise review of some of the evidence on this topic will be presented. This seeks to draw some general conclusions from an extensive, flawed and often contradictory literature. The main focus of this review is on social and contextual factors. Experimental evidence suggests that alcohol consumption probably does increase the propensity for aggression in men, but less so for women. The effects of drinking depend upon the alcohol consumed, the drinker and the setting in which consumption occurs. Most drinking occasions do not result in aggression or violence, and drinking is neither necessary nor sufficient to cause violence. Heavy and inappropriate drinking is associated with both violent and nonviolent crimes; heavy and problem drinkers are at risk of being violent or of being the victims of violence. Experience of violence (including sexual abuse) in childhood or later in life are associated with the development of heavy or problem drinking. The risk of exposure to violence is influenced by a host of demographic, lifestyle and contextual factors. Responses to alcohol-related violence at the societal level involve a number of harm minimization strategies. At an individual level it has been shown that treatment for problem drinking can lead to reduced risk levels (for both perpetrators and victims of violence).

Conceiving risk, divergent responses: perspectives on the construction of risk of FASD in six countries.

Conceptualizations of risks related to womens alcohol use during pregnancy, and the attendant response to preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), are examined in six countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Uganda, Uruguay, and China. Considerable differences were found in how risks were conceptualized across countries and in contextual factors that influence research, prevention, and intervention efforts. Differences in conceptualizations were also apparent within countries. Differences also existed in the degree to which the issue of drinking during pregnancy has been minimized or amplified and in whether and how responses are linked to treatment or other public health interventions.

Drinking, smoking and illicit drug use among British adults: gender differences explored

This paper reports some of the preliminary findings from a survey of 2027 British adults that was conducted during 2000. The heaviest drinking women were aged 18-24 years, while the heaviest drinking men were older. People who had misused prescription drugs were more likely than others to have used illicit drugs, to be smokers and to report drug-related problems. Females who had used illicit drugs had a slightly elevated risk of higher alcohol consumption; male smokers who did not use drugs were more likely than other men to be drinking more heavily. Males were more likely than females to report that somebody had tried to influence their drinking. This reflected a higher rate of alcohol problems among men than among women. Conversely, women who had used illicit drugs were more likely than their male counterparts to report having experienced some form of adverse consequence related to this drug use. Respondents who were living with a partner were more likely than others to report that they had been influenced to reduce their alcohol consumption. Those who were living with a partner to whom they were not married were more likely than others to report having experienced alcohol problems. There was a weak association between low/moderate levels of stress and alcohol problems. Finally, a number of factors were associated with alcohol and drug problems, unwise or at-risk drinking. These included gender, marital status and experience of sexual abuse.