Livingston, M., Holmes, J. orcid.org/0000-0001-9283-2151, Oldham, M. orcid.org/0000-0002-3868-2794 et al. (2 more authors) (2020) Trends in the sequence of first alcohol, cannabis and cigarette use in Australia, 2001–2016. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 207. 107821. ISSN 0376-8716
Abstract
Background Recent analyses of data from the US found that young people were increasingly engaging in cannabis use before alcohol and cigarettes. These shifts are important for public health, but it is not clear whether such trends extend beyond the US. The aim of this study is to examine whether and how the age and sequencing of initiation into alcohol, cannabis and cigarette use has changed in Australia since the early 2000s.
Methods Data came from six waves of the Australian National Drug Strategy Household Survey, spanning 2001–2016. We used data from 18 to 21 year-olds (n = 6849) and examined trends in the age at first use for each of the three substances plus any changes in the order of initiation.
Results The mean age of initiation increased steadily for all three substances (e.g. from 14.9 in 2001 to 16.4 in 2016 for alcohol), while the prevalence of any use declined. There were some changes in ordering of use. For example, in 2001, 62 % of respondents who used both cigarettes and cannabis had first used cigarettes at an earlier age than cannabis, compared with 41 % in 2016. Young people who used both alcohol and cannabis remained more likely to try alcohol before cannabis across the study period.
Conclusions Our results partly replicated US findings, with differences potentially reflecting the substantially different environment around these substances in the US compared to Australia. The age of initiation for alcohol, cigarette and cannabis use in Australia has increased sharply over the past 15 years.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 Elsevier B.V. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Adolescent; Age of initiation; Trends; Alcohol; Cigarettes; Cannabis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) > ScHARR - Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number WELLCOME TRUST (THE) 208090/Z/17/Z |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 30 Jan 2020 13:20 |
Last Modified: | 23 Dec 2020 01:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107821 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:156266 |
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