Written by @amypennay.bsky.social, @gabrielcaluzzi.bsky.social, @soc-researcher.bsky.social, @jholmessheff.bsky.social, Michael Livingston, Jonas Raninen and Jukka Törrönen

We contribute to the literature on young people’s declining drinking by providing a theoretical explication of this phenomenon that positions these changes within their broader socio-historical context, ultimately resulting in a generational shift towards risk aversion and caution

Research also shows that in many ways, young are more mature and reflective than previous generations, avoiding alcohol as a way to secure health and future success

Drawing on these theories we argue that young people today are a more cautious generation, underpinned by wider structural and social conditions relating to factors such as economic insecurity, global politics, increasing anxieties, and internalised responsibility for health and future success

We draw on theories of social generations, social practice and risk to suggest that young people today are a distinct generation and that they have significantly shifted their alcohol and other social practices from previous generations

These factors are not specific to alcohol; alcohol is not the only ‘risk-practice’ young people are engaging in less, they are also using less illicit drugs & cigarettes, youth crime rates have dropped, risky sexual behaviours have decreased, and they are less likely to drive riskily

Although there is substantial debate about the role of the internet, smartphones and social media in the decline in young people’s drinking, we argue that it plays an important role in many of the factors listed above

We argue that these factors are inter-related and together have cumulatively shifted the social position of alcohol for young people

We highlight the importance over time of:
o More negative attitudes to alcohol
o Increases in health consciousness
o Increases in risk aversion
o Closer parent/child relationships
o Less in-person socialising w friends
o Increased surveillance via parents and social media
o Changing gender norms

In this book we review the voluminous literature on the factors that have shaped the decline, and draw on our own data from Australia, Sweden and the UK

Some young adults are carrying these lighter drinking practices into adulthood, leading to lower rates of alcohol-related harm for teenagers and young adults in many high-income countries

Compared to previous generations, teenagers now drink less often, those who do so drink smaller amounts, and they are less likely to get drunk

What does it say?
Young people’s drinking has been declining in many high-income countries since the early 2000s and we have been studying the factors behind this for the past ten years

This is out! Exciting!
@gabrielcaluzzi.bsky.social @soc-researcher.bsky.social @jholmessheff.bsky.social