Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Drug and Alcohol Review
Volume
43
Issue
4
First Page
874
Last Page
896
PubMed ID
38461491
Publisher
Wiley
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences / Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute
RAS ID
69841
Funders
Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation / Australian Research Council
Grant Number
ARC Number : DE210101791
Grant Link
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE210101791
Abstract
Issues: The surrounding social and commercial context, including alcohol advertising, heavily influences alcohol consumption. Alcohol use is a major risk factor for both fatal and non-fatal drowning, particularly for young people. Approach: We conducted a scoping review to explore the peer-reviewed literature on the use of alcohol by young people (aged 15–34 years) in the context of aquatic environments. Five electronic academic databases were searched for English-language studies conducted in high-income countries and published in the last 15 years (since 2008). The MetaQAT framework was used to assess methodological quality of included studies. Key Findings: The review included a total of 24 studies, including those addressing the prevalence of and/or risk factors for alcohol use in aquatic environments among young people (n = 13); the epidemiology of alcohol-related unintentional drowning in young people (n = 9); and interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm around water (n = 3). Findings suggest that young people commonly consume alcohol around water, particularly young men. We found multiple influences on this behaviour, including the perception of risk, location of aquatic activity and presence of others, particularly peers. Implications: Understanding the literature addressing alcohol use around water among young people will assist in identifying and setting priorities for drowning prevention, including the need to mitigate the effects of alcohol advertising which promotes drinking in and around water. Conclusion: There is a clear imperative to address the use of alcohol by young people in aquatic environments. These findings have key implications for public health policy, advocacy and practice.
DOI
10.1111/dar.13831
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Carey, R. N., Crawford, G., Jancey, J., Lam, T., Nimmo, L., Trapp, G., . . . Leavy, J. E. (2024). Young people's alcohol use in and around water: A scoping review of the literature. Drug and Alcohol Review, 43(4), 874-896. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13831