Investigating the relationships between alcohol and other drug use, mental health, early-life factors and life-course outcomes: integrative analyses of data from four Australasian cohort studies
September 2014
Staff:
NDARC: Professor Richard Mattick, Dr Delyse Hutchinson, Dr Edmund Silins, Professor Louisa Degenhardt, Dr Wendy Swift
NDRI: Dr Robert Tait
Other investigators:
Associate Professor John Horwood and Professor David Fergusson, University of Otago
Professor Jackob Najman and Dr Maria Plotnikova, University of Queensland
Professor George Patton, University of Melbourne
Professor John Toumbourou and Dr Primrose Letcher, Deakin University
Dr Carolyn Coffey, Dr Craig Olsson, Dr Elizabeth Spry, Dr Rohan Borschmann and Dr Louise Canterford, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Raimondo Bruno, University of Tasmania
Project description:
Drinking excessively in teen and young adult years is an increasing phenomenon and concern. However, little is known of the antecedents of many of the drinking behaviours and of related problems, as existing studies focus on late adolescence with considerably less attention given to understanding the early precursors of teen drinking behaviours. Additionally, some patterns of behaviour (e.g. extreme binging or abstinence) occur infrequently and cannot be reliably analysed statistically in single cohorts. This study will integrate data from multiple large cohorts to increase sample size and provide power to conduct analyses of the precursors and consequences of high risk and excessive teen drinking. The study builds on the work of the Cannabis Cohort Research Consortium, whose members have successfully conducted other longitudinal analyses using these four cohorts.
For more about this project: Go to NDARC's website.
