Gen Z: Drinking less, but what about alcohol-related harm? Recorded webinar presented by the National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre
Sep 15, 2022
The National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre recently presented a webinar titled, “Gen Z: Drinking less, but what about alcohol-related harm?” With the continuing trend of young people drinking less since the early 2000’s, and many choosing not to drink at all, the webinar explores the changes in alcohol-related harm experienced by young people and how these harms develop in adolescence.
The webinar looks at the characteristics of young people who’s alcohol use hasn’t declined - those who are still experiencing problems from their alcohol use. Young people who experience “blackouts” in adolescence seem to have an increased risk of developing alcohol related problems in adulthood, with peer influence affecting age of initiation but not the number of “blackouts”. A panel discussion in the later half of the webinar discusses the potential need for interventions to target alcohol advertising to females and on social media platforms. We still see small cohorts of young people drinking high levels with associated harms.