Tanya Chikritzhs

The public health and safety benefits of the Northern Territory's Living with Alcohol programme

An evaluation is presented of the impact of a comprehensive population-based alcohol harmreduction programme in the Northern Territory funded by a levy of 5 cents per standard drink which took effect from April 1992. The proceeds of the levy supported increased treatment, public education and other prevention activities. Towards the end of the study period (the first 4 years) other positive initiatives were introduced: the lowering of the legal limit for drivers to 0.05 mg/ml and a special levy on cask wine. Indicators of alcohol-related harm were tracked from 1980 to June 30 1996 and developed from hospital, mortality and road crash data. In each case appropriate control data from the same source was employed to control for other possible confounding effects. Alcohol aetiological fractions for major alcohol-related causes of death were estimated taking account of the level of high-risk alcohol use in the Northern Territory. Multiple linear regression and time-series analyses were employed to test for any...

Factors influencing young people's use of alcohol mixed with energy drinks.

A growing evidence base demonstrates the negative health outcomes associated with the consumption of energy drinks (ED) and alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AMED), especially among young people. Work to date has focused on the physiological effects of ED and AMED use and the motivations associated with consumption, typically among college students. The present study adopted an exploratory, qualitative approach with a community sample of 18-21 year olds to identify relevant barriers, motivators, and facilitators to AMED use and to explicate the decision-making processes involved. The sensitisation method was used to collect data from a cohort of 60 young adult drinkers over a period of six months via individual interviews, focus groups, and introspections. The findings indicate that there may be a general understanding of the negative consequences of AMED use, and that these consequences can constitute barriers that serve to discourage frequent consumption among young people. This outcome suggests the potential application of positive deviance and social norms approaches in interventions designed to reduce AMED use among this population segment. The results are promising in the identification of a large number of concerns among young adults relating to AMED use. These concerns can constitute the focus of future communications with this target group. The results are likely to have relevance to other countries, such as the US and the UK, that share similar alcohol cultures and where energy drinks have achieved comparable market penetration rates.

Most recent risky drinking session with Australian teenagers

Objective: Despite declines in Australian alcohol consumption, youth alcohol related harms remain prevalent. These alcohol‐related consequences appear to be driven by a subset of risky drinkers who engage in ‘high intensity’ drinking episodes and are underrepresented in national health surveys. This project aims to investigate high risk drinking practices and alcohol‐related harms amongst young people not otherwise recorded in existing data.

Youth perceptions of alcohol advertising: are current advertising regulations working?

Objectives: We investigated young people’s exposure to alcohol advertising, their intentions to consume and purchase alcohol products following the viewing of advertisements, and whether they perceived the actors in the advertisements as being under the age of 25 years.

Defining binge drinking: young drinkers' perceptions of risky alcohol consumption

N. Biagioni , S. Pettigrew , S.C. Jones , J. Stafford , M. Daube , T. Chikritzhs e a School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia b Centre for Health and Social Research, Australian Catholic University, Victoria, Australia c McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia d Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia e National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia