Adolescents concerns about their drinking, help-seeking preferences and healthcare access

Transcription

1 Monday, 28 November 2016 Adolescents concerns about their drinking, help-seeking preferences and healthcare access Shanthi Ameratunga, Nicki Jackson, Roshini Peiris-John, Janie Sheridan, Emma Moselen, Terryann Clark School of Population Health

2 Adolescent drinking trajectories Despite popular belief, not always on the up! In a given year (US studies): 15-25% of drinkers cut down their drinking 11-22% quit drinking 2 Tucker et. al (2003) Health Psychol Hill et. al (2000) Alcohol Clin Exp Res

3 Research questions 1. What proportion of NZ adolescents are worried about their drinking and/or have tried to cut down? 2. Which factors predict an adolescent s concern about their drinking? 3. What sources of help do drinkers prefer? 3.1 Do the preferences differ between concerned and nonconcerned drinkers? 4. Do concerned drinkers experience difficulties accessing healthcare? 3

4 Youth 12 Nationally-representative youth health survey conducted in 2012 (Youth2000 survey series) 91 Secondary Schools, n=8,500 (68% response rate) Completed via internet tablet in Te Reo or English 4

5 Outcome: drinking concern Are you worried about how much alcohol you drink? A lot Some A little Not at all Have you ever tried to cut down or give up drinking alcohol? Yes No 5

6 Predictors of drinking concern Demographics (age, sex, ethnicity, SEP) Binge drinking High typical quantities Weekly drinking Alcohol-related problems Reasons for drinking Peer alcohol use Parental alcohol use Drinking company (eg. friends, family) 6 Help-seeking preferences If you had problems or concerns due to your alcohol use, who would you go to for help? School guidance counsellor Friend Teacher Parent Other family School nurse Family doctor Drug and alcohol service Other

7 Difficulties accessing healthcare In the last 12 months, has there been any time when you wanted or needed to see a doctor or nurse (or other health care worker) about your health, but you weren't able to? In the last 12 months have you had any difficulty getting help with stopping drug or alcohol use? 7

8 Results 3,704 (45%) were current drinkers 18.2% worried about their drinking 13.2% had tried to cut down or give up their drinking 23.9% worried about their drinking and/or had tried to cut down = concerned about drinking 8

9 Demographic predictors of drinking concern Predictor Age (ref. = 13 yrs) Male (ref. =female) Odds of being concerned (95% CI) NS NS Māori (ref. = European) 2.1 ( ) Pacific (ref. = European) 4.2 ( ) Asian (ref. = European) Medium Deprivation (ref. = low) NS NS High Deprivation (ref. = low) 2.0 ( ) 9 Adjusted for all other demographics

10 Alcohol use predictors of drinking concern Predictor Odds ratio (95% CI) Binge drinking 2.3 ( ) High typical quantities 1.8 ( ) Weekly drinking 1.7 ( ) Alcohol-related problems 2.7 ( )**Interaction Stronger in students of higher SEP, OR=4.0 Forget about things 2.1 (1.7, 2.6) Friends drink 1.7 (1.4, 2.1) To feel confident 1.7 (1.4, 2.0) Peer alcohol use 1.3 (1.1, 1.7) Drink with friends 2.0 (1.6, 2.5) Drink with family 0.7 (0.6, 0.8) 10 Adjusted for demographics

11 Help-seeking preferences Source of preferred help % of current drinkers Demographic differences Age / Sex / Ethnicity / SEP Concerned vs. nonconcerned drinkers Friends 57.4% Males less likely Males: OR 2.2 ( ) Females: No difference School guidance counsellor 27.4% No differences Males: OR 2.0 ( ) Females: OR 0.7 ( ) Parents 22.1% No differences 13yrs and under: OR 5.2 Other ages: No differences Drug and alcohol services 19.3% No differences No differences Family doctor 13.1% Males less likely No differences Nurses 7.0% Males less likely No differences Teachers 6.9% Males more likely No differences 11

12 Difficulties accessing healthcare Difficulty accessing healthcare % of current drinkers Concerned vs. non-concerned drinkers OR (95% CI) 23% OR 1.6 ( ) Difficulty accessing drug and alcohol services 3% OR 2.7 ( )**Interaction Females: OR 3.9 ( ) Males: NS Adjusted for all demographics 12

13 Implications Ethnic variation (over and above alcohol-related problems) supports research in the US, future research needed Two-thirds of binge drinkers are not concerned about their drinking Importance of experiencing alcohol-related problems Less importance among more-deprived students (cf. less deprived) Drinking with family is associated with lower levels of concern Friends are important in help-seeking Low preference for, and difficulties accessing, formal healthcare look to more innovative approaches to engage adolescents 13

14 Thank you! We acknowledge the rangatahi /young people from secondary schools for sharing their information with u. We also thank their families/whanau and staff at the schools for their support. We thank the Adolescent Health Research Group and project team for making this analysis possible We acknowledge funding support for Youth2000 surveys from: Health Research Council of New Zealand, Department of Labour, Families Commission, Accident Compensation Corporation of New Zealand, Sport and Recreation New Zealand, Health Promotion Agency, Te Puni Kokiri, Vodafone New Zealand and the Ministries of Youth Development, Justice, and Health. Contact: Shanthi Ameratunga,