Predictors of awareness of standard drink labelling and drinking guidelines to reduce negative health effects among Australian drinkers

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: This study examined rates of awareness of standard drink labelling and drinking guidelines among Australian adult drinkers. Demographic predictors of these two outcomes were also explored.

DESIGN AND METHODS: Online survey panel participants aged 18-45 years(n = 1061; mean age = 33.2 years) completed an online survey assessing demographics, alcohol consumption patterns, awareness of standard drink labels and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines, and support for more detailed labels.

RESULTS: The majority (80%) of participants had seen standard drink labels on alcohol products; with younger drinkers, those from a regional/rural location and high-risk drinkers significantly more likely to have seen such labelling. Most respondents estimated at or below the maximum number of drinks stipulated in the NHMRC guidelines. However, their estimates of the levels for male drinkers were significantly higher than for female drinkers. High-risk drinkers were significantly less likely to provide accurate estimates, while those who had seen the standard drink logo were significantly more likely to provide accurate estimates of drinking levels to reduce the risk of long-term harms only. Just under three-quarters of respondents supported the inclusion of more information on labels regarding guidelines to reduce negative health effects.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The current standard drink labelling approach fails to address high-risk drinkers. The inclusion of information about NHMRC guidelines on alcohol labels, and placing standard drink labelling on the front of products could improve awareness of what constitutes a standard drink and safe levels of consumption among Australian drinkers.

Barroom aggression among Australian tradesmen: associations with heavy episodic drinking, trait aggression, and conformity to masculine norms

Objective: Past research associates heavy episodic drinking (HED), trait aggression, and conformity to masculine norms with increased risk of barroom aggression (BA) perpetration by men. Such studies have mostly employed university samples, limiting the generalizability of these findings to other male groups. This study assessed the association of HED, trait aggression, and masculine norms with BA perpetration in a sample of male tradespeople. Method: Australian tradesmen aged 18–35 years (N = 221, Mage = 21.92, SDage = 4.08, 81.5% apprentices) completed an individual interview at their place of work or training, assessing past-month HED and past-year verbal and physical BA perpetrations, as well as the short Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and items from the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-46. Results: Participants reported high levels of verbal (35.1%) and physical (27%) BA perpetration. Negative binomial regression analyses found that HED, trait aggression, and Winning, Risk-taking, and Playboy norms predicted increased risk of both verbal and physical BA perpetrations, while Violence was negatively associated with verbal BA perpetration. Conclusions: Trait aggression was the strongest predictor of both verbal and physical BA perpetrations. Dispositional aggression, HED, and norms endorsing competitiveness, risk-taking, and promiscuity increase the risk of male tradespeople engaging in BA.

"Did you ever drink more?" A detailed description of pregnant women's drinking patterns

BACKGROUND: This paper presents drinking patterns in a prospective study of a population-based cohort of 1570 pregnant women using a combination of dose and timing to give best estimates of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). Novel assessments include women's special occasion drinking and alcohol use prior to pregnancy recognition.

METHODS: Information on up to nine types of alcoholic drink, with separate frequencies and volumes, including drinking on special occasions outside a 'usual' pattern, was collected for the periconceptional period and at four pregnancy time points. Weekly total and maximum alcohol consumption on any one occasion was calculated and categorised. Drinking patterns are described in the context of predictive maternal characteristics.

RESULTS: 41.3 % of women did not drink during pregnancy, 27 % drank in first trimester only; most of whom stopped once they realised they were pregnant (87 %). When compared to women who abstained from alcohol when pregnant, those who drank in the first trimester only were more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy and not feel the effects of alcohol quickly. Almost a third of women continued to drink alcohol at some level throughout pregnancy (27 %), around half of whom never drank more than at low or moderate levels. When compared with abstainers and to women who only drank in trimester one, those who drank throughout pregnancy tended to be in their early to mid-thirties, smoke, have a higher income and educational attainment. Overall, almost one in five women (18.5 %) binge drank prior to pregnancy recognition, a third of whom were identified with a question about 'special occasion' drinking. Women whose age at first intoxication was less than 18 years (the legal drinking age in Australia), were significantly more likely to drink in pregnancy and at binge levels prior to pregnancy recognition.

CONCLUSIONS: We have identified characteristics of pregnant women who either abstain, drink until pregnancy awareness or drink throughout pregnancy. These may assist in targeting strategies to enhance adherence to an abstinence policy and ultimately allow for appropriate follow-up and interpretation of adverse child outcomes. Our methodology also produced important information to reduce misclassification of occasional binge drinking episodes and ensure clearly defined comparison groups.

Teens, drinking culture and theatre as awareness-raising: findings from research conducted on the audience of Phunktional theatre company's regional performaces of Love Drunk - interim report April 2016

This report examines the impact of Phunktional Theatre company's regional performance program