Alcohol, Aggression and Violence Among Young People: A Volatile Mix

Abstract

Hazardous alcohol use and aggression in youth are substantial global challenges associated with significant social, emotional and economic burdens across health, school and justice systems. To date, understanding in these areas is limited for several reasons: the lack of prospective longitudinal research examining how these behaviours develop and influence each other over time; the limited number of studies examining justice responses and the relative role of alcohol in youth violence; and a lack of evidence-based prevention programs addressing both alcohol use and aggression. This thesis sought to address these gaps. Specifically, this thesis aimed to: 1) examine the developmental relationship; 2) explore criminal justice responses; and 3) evaluate an intervention for preventing harmful alcohol use and aggression among young people. Developmental trajectories of alcohol use and aggression were modelled in parallel (see Paper 1). The findings indicated reciprocal contemporaneous associations between alcohol and aggression and demonstrated a prospective link between heightened aggression and subsequent hazardous alcohol use. Paper 2 situated hazardous alcohol use as the most significant proximal influence on violence, demonstrating a robust association even after accounting for individual and early environmental risk factors. Paper 3 explored the intersections between youth alcohol use and violent crime in the criminal justice system, finding that alcohol was commonly implicated in violent crime by young adults. Papers 1–3 provided strong evidence that adolescence and emerging adulthood are critical periods for the co-development of alcohol and aggression. Thus, the final study (Paper 4) examined the impact of a prevention program that targets high-risk personality styles associated with both alcohol use and aggression in early adolescence. Outcomes showed sustained reductions in aggression for youth who received the intervention over a seven-year period (from age 13–20).

This thesis contains a series of rigorous, novel studies that collectively contribute a mixed- methods account of the nature and correlates of aggression and violent behaviour among young people and provide critical evidence for prevention.