The following is a summary of “Generational shifts in attitudes and beliefs about alcohol: An age-period-cohort approach,” published in the February 2023 issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence by Livingston et al.

There has been a significant reduction in the consumption of alcohol at the population level over the last 20 years, with notable variations across generations. However, the etiology of this transition remains uncertain, and there has been limited research evaluating alterations in attitudes and convictions regarding alcohol among specific demographic subsets. By analyzing seven waves of survey data covering 19 years (2001-2019) and involving 166,093 respondents aged 14 and above, we have evaluated the impact of age, period, and birth cohort on the evolution of four indicators of alcohol attitudes. These measures include the disapproval of regular alcohol consumption, the perception of safe drinking levels for both genders, and the perception that alcohol is the leading cause of death among all drugs. 

There were consistent upward trends observed in the period effects on the perceived safe levels of alcohol consumption, particularly among males, and the conviction that alcohol is the primary cause of mortality. The population-level stability of disapproval towards regular alcohol consumption is notable; however, there exist significant differences among cohorts, with those from earlier and more recent cohorts exhibiting a greater tendency to disapprove of such behavior than their counterparts. The observations suggest a widespread decrease in the perceived safe thresholds of alcohol consumption among the general public, coupled with a significant surge in the disapprobation of drinking among recent generations. This may have affected the reported decline in alcohol consumption among these groups.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871622004926