Meet us where we are: non-Indigenous young peoples’ ideas on how to reduce alcohol-related harm in Mparntwe (Alice Springs)

Timothy A. Carey, Mikaela Cibich, Margaret Carey, Sonia Hines

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Abstract

Objective: This research sought to understand the strategies young people in a remote central Australian town believed would reduce alcohol-related harms amongst their peers. 

Methods: A total of 38 non-Indigenous residents of Mparntwe (Alice Springs), aged between 14 and 18 years, participated in focus groups at their school. Participants discussed strategies they thought would reduce alcohol-related harms among people their age. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. 

Results: Participants suggested that young peoples’ drinking behaviour developed with peers. Through social learning in peer groups, drinking alcohol was perceived as fun and normal. Participants indicated a willingness to learn about strategies to stay safe around alcohol. Their ideas for doing so reflected their existing social methods of learning about alcohol: having comfortable conversations and storytelling with a small group of peers and a relatable role model. 

Conclusions: Young residents of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) advised that alcohol-related harm reduction strategies would be most effective if focussed on safety, rather than abstinence, and applied social-learning strategies. 

Implications for Public Health: Young people value their burgeoning self-determination. Youth health interventions must engage youth in intervention co-design and aim to assist young people to make safer decisions, rather than making decisions on their behalf.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100100
Number of pages7
JournalAustralian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
Volume47
Issue number6
Early online date29 Nov 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Keywords

  • alcohol
  • focus group
  • Northern Territory
  • rural
  • youth

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