There is a widespread belief that young people are drinking more and more when compared with the previous generation. The evidence supporting this statement is anecdotal or comes from analysis of national trends. It is also unclear whether this difference in drinking patterns applies to the current generations of parents and their young offspring. To date, no study has had the capacity to explore this research question in a matched cohort of parents and children.
We will use data from the Mater - University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) to test epidemiologically whether the 21 year old MUSP participants differ in their alcohol consumption from that of their mothers before they became pregnant 21 year before. We will use univariable and multivariable regression analysis to compare associations with alcohol use between matched pairs of mothers and their offspring with particular attention to the drinking patterns of the daughters. Potential confounders included in the adjusted model include socio-economic status, mental health and individual lifestyle factors. The policy implications of the findings will be discussed.