Reducing risks associated with drinking among young adults: promoting knowledge-based perspectives and harm reduction strategies.

Abstract

The situation with regard to drinking is particularly complex for young adults: they are typically faced with pressures on one hand to abstain or drink small quantities, and on the other hand there may be expectations to drink heroic amounts and engage in risk-taking while drinking. Furthermore, in some cultures a very short transition period time is evident between condoned occasional experimentation with alcohol and the expectations of being able to manage alcohol use in a wide range of settings. Also, the perceived invincibility among youth stands in sharp contrast to their high rates of traumatic events involving alcohol. The paper by Barbara Leigh examines the nature and dimensions of risk-taking particularly among young adults. For example, her analysis encourages us to look beyond preliminary associations about the proportion of certain events where drinking was involved, and consider whether drinking was a correlate or a contributing cause. The paper by James Mosher points to the importance of obtaining information about the population, situation and drinker as a basis for population-level interventions, involving environmental changes in the promotion and distribution of alcoholic beverages. The papers point to a search for interventions that are distinguished by their effectiveness in reducing harm, and not necessarily by their faddish value. An essential step is drawing the younger drinker into an accurate documentation of risk-taking experiences, and also in collaborating in developing humane, reasonable and effective approaches in reducing drinking-related harm.