More young adults are abstaining from alcohol

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/uom-mya100820.php

News Release 12-Oct-2020
University of Michigan

Fewer college-age Americans drink alcohol, compared to nearly 20 years ago, according to a new study.

Between 2002 and 2018, the number of adults aged 18-22 in the U.S. who abstained from alcohol increased from 20% to 28% for those in college and from about 24% to 30% for those not in school, say researchers at the University of Michigan and Texas State University. And alcohol abuse among both groups decreased by roughly half.

However, the study found that the number of young adults using marijuana, as well as co-using alcohol and marijuana, has increased.

Overall, the mixed findings show more positive than negative trends for alcohol and marijuana use and misuse among this age group, but the progression still bears close monitoring, the researchers say. 

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"The prevalence of alcohol use disorder in both groups in 2018 was roughly half of what it was in 2002. We are excited to learn about these drops in disordered drinking, as alcohol-related consequences are one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity for young adults."

Co-author Ty Schepis, professor of psychology at Texas State, said "even with increases in marijuana use disorder and co-use of alcohol and marijuana, there is a lot of hope in our study's results."

"Points of concern that deserve more attention are the rise in co-use of alcohol and marijuana, as we know that polysubstance use can have more negative consequences and be more difficult to treat," he said.

The study also found that more than three-fourths of those who had disordered use of both alcohol and marijuana reported past-year prescription drug use and illicit drug use, while the majority reported prescription drug misuse.

The findings indicate that the substance use landscape has changed over the past 20 years, with more young adults using or misusing several different substances, as opposed to just marijuana or alcohol.

"For example, from 2015 to 2018, only 2.5% of young adults who abstained from both alcohol and marijuana reported misusing prescription drugs, while 25.1% of co-users misused prescription drugs," Schepis said. "That is a tenfold difference with potentially dangerous consequences."

Abusing multiple substances is often more dangerous than abusing a single substance.

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tags: drug use, drug abuse,