Psychological concomitants of tobacco and alcohol use in young Australian adults

Nineteen-year-old subjects in an Australian community sample (N = 1028) reported their tobacco and alcohol use of the previous week, and 598 of them gave similar information 3 years later. The paper examines the demographic (sex, ethnic background, and occupational status) and psychological characteristics (hopelessness, self-esteem, locus of control, and social alienation) of tobacco and alcohol users and nonusers at the ages of 19 and 22, and also of subjects who started or stopped consumption of these drugs over the three year period. Smoking at 22, and particularly having started to smoke between 19 and 22, seems to be associated with feelings of demoralization and social alienation, as is relatively heavy drinking. Moderate drinking of alcohol is however normative for the well-adjusted and socially well-integrated young adult in this culture. The findings imply a need for rather different health-promotion messages related to tobacco and to alcohol.