The comorbidity between alcohol use and internalising psychopathology in early adolescence

Aim: To examine the relationship between different patterns of alcohol use and internalising symptoms in a large contemporary cohort of 13-year-olds. Methods: Data came from a large cohort of Australian youth, participating in the CLIMATE Schools Combined study. This study included 6386 students (mean age = 13.5, SD = 0.6) from 71 secondary schools across three Australian states. Associations between different patterns of alcohol use and internalising symptoms related to depression (revised version of the PHQ-A), generalised anxiety disorder (GAD-7), social phobia (MINI-SPIN), psychological distress (K6) and the emotion subscale of the SDQ were investigated. Results: Compared with non-drinkers, low levels of drinking (consumed a full serve of alcohol but never reported risky drinking) and risky drinking (5 or more standard drinks on one occasion) during early adolescence were strongly associated with a range of internalising symptoms in both males and females. These relationships were largely explained by externalising symptoms in males but not females. Conclusions: Both low and risky levels of alcohol use in early adolescence are associated with internalising symptoms. The findings have implications for the timing of school-based prevention programs, and suggest future preventive efforts should adopt a combined approach to reducing alcohol use and mental health disorders in tandem