Heterogeneity in Drinking Practices in England and Wales and Its Association With Violent Behavior: A Latent Class Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Crude single-item consumption metrics, such as "binge drinking" measures, mask the complexity and heterogeneity in young people's drinking; thus limiting our understanding of young people's drinking patterns as well as how alcohol drinking is associated with violent outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: The current study employed a range of consumption and contextual indicators to explore heterogeneity in young people's (16-29 years) drinking practices, giving due consideration to their social nature. It also assessed to what extent heterogeneity in drinking practices was associated with violent outcomes.

METHODS: Employing data from the 2006 Offending Crime and Justice Survey, three measures of alcohol consumption and nine drinking context indicators were utilized within latent class analysis to create typologies of drinking practices among current drinkers in England and Wales (n = 2711) and examine their association with violent outcomes. The validity of the typologies was also assessed on age, sex, and socio-economic status.

RESULTS: Three discernible drinking profiles were identified: "regular social drinkers" (48%), "regular pub binge drinkers" (32%), and "moderate drinkers" (20%). The "regular pub binge drinkers" were found to be more than twice as likely to commit an assault offence (odds ratio = 2.8 95% CI [1.3, 6.2]) when compared to "moderate drinkers" and "regular social drinkers" (odds ratio = 2.2 95% CI [1.4, 3.4]).

CONCLUSIONS: Interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related violence ought to give due consideration to the social context of drinking as well as levels of consumption.