TY - JOUR
T1 - The direct and indirect effect of loneliness on the development of adolescent alcohol use in the United Kingdom
AU - McKay, Michael T.
AU - Konowalczyk, Svenja
AU - Andretta, James R.
AU - Cole, Jon C.
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - Alcohol use among adolescents in the United Kingdom (UK) remains relatively high compared to those in other European countries. The present study sought to examine both the direct and indirect effect of loneliness on drinking behavior. Participants were school children (mean age 13.5 years at Time 1) participating in a Randomized Controlled Trial in the UK, who completed a battery of questionnaires examining alcohol-use indicators, loneliness, self-efficacy and sensation seeking at Time 1 and at +12 months. Loneliness at Time 1 had a substantive, though largely indirect (i.e., via self-efficacy and sensation seeking covariates), impact on alcohol-related harm at +12 months. Furthermore, Loneliness interacted with gender in the prediction of context of alcohol use, where being female and experiencing loneliness put an individual at a greater risk of unsupervised drinking. Females experiencing loneliness were also 2.9 times as likely to have had a drink in the past 30 days, and around 2.5 times as likely to have ever consumed a full drink, when compared to their male peers. The current results indicate that loneliness is an important but complex factor in adolescent drinking. There are important implications for the development of interventions to prevent underage drinking, not least that it is not appropriate to consider all underage drinkers as socially marginalised. However, for those that are, the self-medication hypothesis is potentially relevant through emotional self-efficacy.
AB - Alcohol use among adolescents in the United Kingdom (UK) remains relatively high compared to those in other European countries. The present study sought to examine both the direct and indirect effect of loneliness on drinking behavior. Participants were school children (mean age 13.5 years at Time 1) participating in a Randomized Controlled Trial in the UK, who completed a battery of questionnaires examining alcohol-use indicators, loneliness, self-efficacy and sensation seeking at Time 1 and at +12 months. Loneliness at Time 1 had a substantive, though largely indirect (i.e., via self-efficacy and sensation seeking covariates), impact on alcohol-related harm at +12 months. Furthermore, Loneliness interacted with gender in the prediction of context of alcohol use, where being female and experiencing loneliness put an individual at a greater risk of unsupervised drinking. Females experiencing loneliness were also 2.9 times as likely to have had a drink in the past 30 days, and around 2.5 times as likely to have ever consumed a full drink, when compared to their male peers. The current results indicate that loneliness is an important but complex factor in adolescent drinking. There are important implications for the development of interventions to prevent underage drinking, not least that it is not appropriate to consider all underage drinkers as socially marginalised. However, for those that are, the self-medication hypothesis is potentially relevant through emotional self-efficacy.
KW - Loneliness
KW - Self-efficacy
KW - Sensation seeking
KW - Adolescent alcohol use
KW - Indirect effects
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85027861814&doi=10.1016%2fj.abrep.2017.07.003&partnerID=40&md5=eebb62aa15ff7480215baaf4276d4ef6
U2 - 10.1016/j.abrep.2017.07.003
DO - 10.1016/j.abrep.2017.07.003
M3 - Article
VL - 6
SP - 65
EP - 70
JO - Addictive Behaviors Reports
JF - Addictive Behaviors Reports
ER -