Biography, age and temporality: understanding shifts in alcohol consumption over time among young abstainers

Introduction: Significant declines in alcohol consumption have been recorded for adolescents in high-income countries over the past two decades. Qualitative research suggests this is partly due to increased focus on control and risk aversion, and concerns about physical and mental health. This analysis explores how the views and consumption patterns of young non- and light-drinking adolescents shifted as they aged into early adulthood.

Methods: Qualitative interviews were undertaken with a cohort of 50 young people in Australia who identified as abstainers or light drinkers when they were aged 16-19 (2018). Follow-up interviews were undertaken in 2020 and 2022 (when they were aged 20-23). Analyses explored whether and how young people’s position on alcohol changed over time, and the influences they drew on to situate changes (or statis) in drinking practices.

Findings: Most young people in our sample reported drinking more over time as they aged into young adulthood, though some remained abstainers and some reduced or stopped drinking. By wave 3, less concern about risk, control, worry and mental health were common for all interviewees, whether or not their drinking increased or decreased. In Wave 1 participants reported actively choosing sobriety and light drinking, however by Wave 3, their reflections on alcohol touched more on notions of pleasure, sociability, freedom, valuing moderation for mental health, or disinterest in alcohol.

Conclusions: The concern about alcohol that young non- and light-drinking adolescents have during adolescence seems to ameliorate as they age. While key life events often shaped changes in drinking over time, improvements in wellbeing seemed to occur as young people became less worried about risk in young adulthood.