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Emergency services are frequently called to attend mental health incidents and are looking for innovative ways to improve their responses and reduce the burden on services. Involuntary detention of people living with mental illness is considered more frequent than necessary, leading to increased pressure on emergency departments, and is often a traumatic experience for patients. The Police, Ambulance, Clinician Early Response (PACER) model was developed in 2019 in Canberra, Australia, and seeks to reduce involuntary detentions by embedding a mental health clinician into emergency services as a mobile mental health crisis response intervention. This protocol details a retrospective cohort study that will examine the association between PACER and involuntary detentions using medical and police records and compare the results to standard ambulance and police responses. We will use relative risk and odds ratio calculations to determine the probability of being involuntarily detained or diverted from hospital; and we will describe the patient characteristics and outcomes in the PACER cohort. Results will be reported using the STROBE checklist for reporting cohort studies. This study was not registered on a publicly accessible registry.

Abstract Background Young people around the world are increasingly combining alcohol with energy drinks (AEDs). However, as yet, limited research has been conducted examining this issue, particularly in terms of exploring patterns of consumption, social practices and the cultural contexts of AED consumption. We sought to understand how AEDs are used and socially constructed among young people. Methods We conducted 25 hours of observation in a variety of pubs, bars and nightclubs, as well as in-depth interviews with ten young people who regularly consumed AEDs during a session of alcohol use. Results In this pilot study, participants were highly organised in their AED consumption practices and reported rarely altering this routine. Some young people consumed upwards of eight AEDs on a typical night, and others limited their use to between three and five AEDs to avoid unpleasant consequences, such as sleep disturbances, severe hangovers, heart palpitations and agitation. Wakefulness and increased energy were identified as the primary benefits of AEDs, with taste, reduced and increased intoxication, and sociability reported as additional benefits. Young AED users were brand sensitive and responded strongly to Red Bull imagery, as well as discounted AEDs. Finally, some young people reported substituting illicit stimulants with energy drinks. Conclusions Combining energy drinks with alcohol is now a normalised phenomenon and an integral and ingrained feature of the night-time economy. Despite this, many young people are unaware of recommended daily limits or related harms. While some young people consume AEDs to feel less drunk (consistent with motivations for combining alcohol with illicit stimulants), others report using AEDs to facilitate intoxication. While preliminary, our findings have relevance for potential policy and regulatory approaches, as well as directions for future research.

Abstract Background Australia has one of the highest rates of methamphetamine use in the world; however, treatment access for methamphetamine is comparatively low. This descriptive study aimed to identify patterns of treatment utilization and perceived barriers to accessing treatment among dependent methamphetamine users in the hope that such information will enable services to more appropriately respond to this group. Methods One hundred and twenty-six methamphetamine users who had a current or past history of methamphetamine dependence were interviewed about their experiences of, and perceived barriers to, treatment. Results Treatment utilization among methamphetamine users was reportedly low. One of the main reasons cited for not accessing treatment was that methamphetamine users did not perceive their drug use to be a problem (despite apparent levels of dependence). Self-detoxification with the use of other licit and illicit drugs was high among this group. Participants identified a lack of confidence in the ability of treatment services to address methamphetamine dependence and the 'opiate-centric' nature of treatment services as significant blocks to treatment entry. Suggestions for improvement by participants included operating specialist services for methamphetamine users, placing an emphasis on responsiveness and routinely involving case management services for this group. Discussion and Conclusions To improve service delivery, treatment services should reorient their services to better address the needs of methamphetamine users by making small changes such as specific opening times for methamphetamine users or using a dedicated space for methamphetamine treatment. Alternative options such as online treatments and specialist methamphetamine clinics should be considered for methamphetamine users.

Background: Lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women exhibit high rates of alcohol and tobacco use, yet there is limited qualitative research examining why. Previous research has focused on minority stress explanations, linking alcohol and tobacco use to experiences of discrimination. However, other work considers the social contexts and cultural practices associated with alcohol and tobacco consumption. This confirms the need for more in-depth understandings of LBQ women’s lived experiences in a contemporary Australian context. Aims: To address gaps in existing research, this project aims to develop a more nuanced contemporaneous theorising of what alcohol and tobacco mean to LBQ women in Australia. Drawing on feminist and critical drugs studies, this research will examine the complexities of alcohol and tobacco in LBQ women’s lives, including how patterns of use change over time. We will also critically consider how LBQ women understand risk in relation to these substances, including factors leading to harm reduction and help-seeking. Method: We will employ a longitudinal qualitative approach to explore LBQ women’s experiences over time, including three waves of semi-structured interviews and participant photography. We aim to recruit approximately 60 women in Victoria and New South Wales. Interview and visual data will be analysed using a range of narrative and thematic techniques. Conclusion: This study seeks to explore the complexities of individual experiences with alcohol and tobacco use, including pleasure and support-seeking, and to provide a nuanced understanding of the cultural dimensions of use that may change over time. In doing so, we propose a shift from deficit approaches to LBQ women’s substance use towards more meaningful strengths-based engagement with the function of substances for LBQ women. Findings will be significant in their contribution to the current understandings of substance use patterns among LBQ women and the implications for harm reduction and health interventions.

Issues Addressed: Alcohol depictions are extremely common online, and there is a reported relationship between alcohol exposure and alcohol use. A browser plug‐in specifically designed to block online alcohol depictions may be helpful to prevent the uptake of alcohol or increased alcohol use. Methods: Twenty‐five semi‐structured interviews were conducted, examining participants' beliefs about the effects of online alcohol exposure and their support for developing the browser plug‐in. Results: Using reflexive thematic analysis, we found participants highlighted a clear impact of viewing alcohol online and offline alcohol use. Participants believed a browser plug‐in that blocked alcohol was acceptable and would be especially useful for minors (to prevent alcohol initiation) and those who are aiming to reduce their alcohol use. Conclusions: Participants emphasised that viewing online alcohol exposure had an impact on drinking behaviours, such as increased craving and temptation. The browser plug‐in was considered an easy intervention tool for both parents and people who are experiencing alcohol‐related problems or trying to reduce their drinking. So What?: Participants' continuous support of an alcohol‐blocking browser plug‐in suggests that future health promotion strategies should consider the development of a prototype plug‐in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This feasibility and validity study aimed to evaluate and compare ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys and transdermal SCRAM-CAM monitors to measure drinking while watching Australian Rules Football (AFL). Methods: During 29 events, 13 participants wore a SCRAM-CAM monitor while completing EMA surveys. Correspondence in the alcohol levels detected and correlation between the self-reported drinks and transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) were measured. An exit survey assessed participant experiences. Results: Alcohol consumption was self-reported on 24 (83.3%) of 29 events, with an average of 5.0 standard drinks consumed over 2.3 hours. Correspondence in the levels of alcohol detected was good at 0.62. TAC curves showed large-sized correlations to the number of self-reported drinks (r = 0.55–0.67). Some participants noted discomfort from the SCRAM-CAM, whilst others reported annoyance completing EMA surveys during a match. Conclusions: EMA surveys are a cost effective method for collecting information on drinking as well as contexts and other factors such as harms. A clear benefit of the SCRAM-CAM is the ability to provide detailed information on intoxication trajectories. We suggest that a combination of the two methods will inform the most meaningful approaches for prevention and intervention strategies to reduce harmful drinking among sport spectators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greater use of communication technologies among young people, including mobile phones, social media and communication apps, has coincided with declines in youth alcohol use in many high-income countries. However, little research has unpacked how drinking as a practice within interconnected routines and interactions may be changing alongside these technologies. Drawing on qualitative interviews about drinking with young people aged 16–23 across three similar studies in Australia, the United Kingdom and Sweden, we identify how communication technologies may afford reduced or increased drinking. They may reduce drinking by producing new online contexts, forms of intimacy and competing activities. They may increase drinking by re-organising drinking occasions, rituals and contexts. And they may increase or reduce drinking by enabling greater fluidity and interaction between diverse practices. These countervailing dynamics have likely contributed to shifting drinking patterns and practices for young people that may be obscured beneath the population-level decline in youth drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractObjectiveMethodsResultsConclusionWhile the stigma experienced by non-drinkers is well-documented, little is known about the factors that influence it. This study aims to test a sequential mediation model in which the amount of alcohol consumed by a drinker, predicts their experienced alcohol-related harm, which in turn predicts the concern they have for drinking and their negative attitudes towards non-drinkers.A sample of 787 Australian drinkers (Mage = 38.4 years, SD = 11.4) completed online measures of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harms, concern for drinking and the Cheers Attitudes towards Non-drinker Scale (CANS): a scale that measures the negative attitudes toward non-drinkers via three threats non-drinkers are perceived to pose to drinkers (Threat to Fun, Connection, and Self).The model was shown to be a good fit and demonstrated a sequential mediation with significant indirect effects from alcohol consumption via experienced alcohol-related harms and concern, to each CANS subscale: Threat to Self (β = 0.402, p < 0.001), Fun (β = 0.096, p = 0.006) and Connection (β = 0.165, p < 0.001).The findings suggest that the stigma directed at non-drinkers may be enacted as a defence against an unwanted self-reflection from a drinker’s concern for their own drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-drinkers report experiencing stigma, which can act as a barrier to non-drinking. Two studies were undertaken to develop and test a new scale to measure attitudes towards non-drinkers. In Study 1, 29 items were presented to 426 Australian drinkers. In Study 2, the refined 12-item Cheers Attitudes to Non-drinkers Scale (CANS) was presented to 389 drinkers. Alcohol consumption, Harm and the Regan Attitudes towards Non-drinkers Scale (RANDS) were presented for scale validation. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors representing the Threats to Fun, Connection and Self that drinkers perceive non-drinkers to pose. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the scale meets the required fit indices and had good reliability (α = 0.842). Evidence of validity was shown through significant correlations with Alcohol Consumption, Harm and the RANDS. These studies show the CANS to be a reliable and valid measure that could be utilised to understand and modify the stigma experienced by non-drinkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Research examining how alcohol consumption changed across different socio‐demographic groups during the pandemic has largely relied upon convenience samples recruited after the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to measure whether the pandemic shifted alcohol consumption in different gender, age and income groups in Australia. Design, setting and participants: This was a longitudinal study using four waves (2017–20) of the annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to compare pre‐pandemic consumption (2017–19) with consumption in 2020. A total of 11 636 participants in Australia aged 15 years and older took part. Measurements: Participants were asked annually about their alcohol consumption, demographics and income. Findings There was a statistically significant increase in alcohol consumption during the first year of the pandemic [incident rate ratio (IRR) = 1.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1, 1.1], largely driven by changes in drinking frequency. We found a significant difference in consumption change from pre‐COVID‐19 to during COVID‐19 for participants aged under 55 years compared with those aged over 55 years. In addition, participants aged 15–34 reported less alcohol consumption during the pandemic than those aged 35 years and older. No significant differences were identified across gender and income groups. Conclusions: Alcohol consumption in Australia increased during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Survey participants aged 55 years and over seemed to be the least impacted by the public health measures introduced during the pandemic, such as the closure of licensed premises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we report the findings from our study which was undertaken to learn if the findings of Chang et al. (2009), Yeager et al. (2011), Erens et al. (2014), MacInnis et al. (2018) and Cornesse et al. (2020) would be replicated in Australia. Our Australian Online Panels Benchmarking Study (AOPBS) involved administering the same questionnaire across eight independent national Australian samples aiming to achieve approximately 600 completed questionnaires/interviews from each sample. The questionnaire was administered by the Social Research Centre (SRC), a subsidiary of the Australian National University (ANU), to three probability samples, and to five nonprobability samples drawn from the online panels operated by five independent nonprobability online panel providers. A dual-frame telephone sampling methodology was used for two of the probability surveys and the third used an address-based sampling (ABS) frame. The target population for the AOPBS was persons aged 18 years and older living in Australia who were fluent in English. The three probability sample surveys likely had little Coverage Error, a known amount of Sampling Error, a nonignorable amount of Nonresponse Error, little Adjustment Error, and a small-to-modest amount of Measurement Error. Overall, the three probability samples as a group were less biased on the substantive measures and had less variance from the benchmark values, compared to the nonprobability surveys. The five nonprobability surveys likely had a nonignorable amount of Coverage Error, an unknowable amount of Sampling Error, a nonignorable amount of Nonresponse Error, unknown Adjustment Error, and a small-to-modest amount of Measurement Error. Overall, the five nonprobability panel surveys as a group were more biased on the substantive measures and had more variance from the benchmark values, compared to the probability surveys. Our AOPBS study replicates very closely with previous comparison studies conducted in other countries.

Introduction: In this article we seek to understand the changing social position of alcohol use for young people in Australia by identifying how alcohol has become framed as posing a significant risk to their bodies and futures. Methods: Forty interviews were conducted with young people aged 18–21 years from Melbourne, Australia, who had previously identified as light drinkers or abstainers. Drawing on insights from contemporary sociologies of risk, we explored how risk was discussed as a governing concept that shaped young people's views of alcohol, and how it encouraged or necessitated risk‐avoidance in daily life. Results: Participants drew on a range of risk discourses in framing their abstention or moderate drinking along the lines of health, wellness, wisdom and productivity. They reiterated social constructions of heavy or regular alcohol use as irresponsible, threatening and potentially addictive. The focus on personal responsibility was striking in most accounts. Participants seemed to have routinised ways of practicing risk avoidance and coordinated drinking practices with other practices in their everyday life, with alcohol therefore 'competing for time'. Discussion and Conclusions: Our findings endorse the idea that discourses of risk and individual responsibility shape the contemporary socio‐cultural value of alcohol for young people. Risk avoidance has become routine and is manifested through the practice of restraint and control. This appears particular to high‐income countries like Australia, where concerns about young people's futures and economic security are increasing, and where neoliberal politics are the foundations of governmental ideology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Adolescent alcohol consumption has been declining across many countries, with rates of abstinence also increasing among younger cohorts. A range of socio‐demographic variables and personality traits are associated with alcohol use; however, no study has examined whether the relationship between personality and drinking has changed over time as adolescent drinking has declined. Methods: Data from 15‐ to 17‐year‐old respondents were extracted from four waves (2004/2005, 2008/2009, 2012/2013, 2016/2017) of a long running Australian cohort study. Logistic regression analyses with interaction terms were used to determine whether personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability) and socio‐demographic variables (age, gender, equivalised income, family structure, cultural background, school attendance and regionality) significantly differed between drinkers and abstainers and whether these relationships changed across cohorts. Results: The prevalence of drinking for 15‐ to 17‐year‐olds significantly declined over each survey wave from 54% in 2004/2005 to 24% in 2016/2017. Conscientiousness (odds ratio [OR] 0.82, confidence interval [CI] = 0.73, 0.93), extraversion ([OR] 1.25, [CI] = 1.11, 1.40) and emotional stability ([OR] 0.73, [CI] = 0.64, 0.83) were all significant predictors of alcohol consumption. No significant interactions between cohort and personality traits or socio‐demographic variables were found. Discussion and Conclusions: The study found no evidence to indicate that the relationship between adolescent alcohol consumption and personality has changed. Similarly, socio‐demographic relationships with drinking were stable as drinking prevalence dropped by more than half. This adds to the evidence that drinking declines among adolescents are spread broadly across the population and not concentrated within identifiable sub‐groups of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Youth drinking rates have declined over the past 15 years while self‐reported psychological distress has increased, despite a well‐recognised positive relationship between the two. The current study aimed to identify changes in the relationship between psychological distress and alcohol use in adolescents from 2007 to 2019. Methods: This study used survey responses from 6543 Australians aged 14–19 years who completed the National Drug Strategy Household Survey in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 or 2019. Logistic and multivariable linear regressions with interactions (psychological distress × survey wave) predicted any alcohol consumption, short‐term risk and average quantity of standard drinks consumed per day. Results: Psychological distress was a positive predictor of alcohol use and this association remained stable across survey waves as alcohol consumption decreased. Discussion and Conclusions: The relationship between distress and alcohol consumption remained relatively steady, even as youth drinking declined and distress increased. The proportion of drinkers experiencing distress did not increase as consumption rates dropped, suggesting that the decline in youth drinking is occurring independently of the increase in self‐reported and diagnosed mental health issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text is a collection of book reviews from the Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society. The first review discusses errors and inaccuracies in a book called "Killing for Country" by David Marr, which explores the history of the Native Police in Australia. The reviewer suggests that a second edition should correct these errors to enhance the analysis. The second review is of a book called "Spies and Sparrows" by Phillip Deery, which focuses on ASIO and the Cold War. The reviewer mentions the iconic image of Mrs. Petrov being dragged onto a plane during the Petrov Affair and discusses the significance of the book. [Extracted from the article]