The findings of this study provide significant insights into the drinking patterns and associated risk behaviours among adolescents participating in a preventive program following AAI. Our results indicate that these adolescents exhibit higher rates of lifetime smoking, substance use, and sexual intercourse compared to national averages, suggesting a broader spectrum of risk-taking behaviours associated with early and excessive alcohol use. Moreover, nearly half of the patients had a positive family history of alcohol or substance use disorders among first, second, or third-degree relatives. This aligns with existing literature indicating that a family history of substance use disorders significantly increases the risk of similar behaviours and psychiatric morbidity in offspring (26).
Additionally, exposure to parental drunkenness was reported in 41.5% of cases, which literature suggests increases the risk of adolescent binge drinking by approximately twofold (27). Nearly half of the adolescents with AAI had a confirmed psychological disorder, with ADHD being the most prevalent. Prior studies have shown a strong association between alcohol exposure and the development of mental disorders, highlighting the need for comprehensive mental health assessments in this population (19, 28). Among patients without a prior diagnosed psychological disorder, 15.1% had clinical scores on CBCL indicative of undiagnosed psychological disorders. It is crucial to identify these new mental health issues and determine the need for referral to specialized care to prevent recurrent hospital admissions and future regular alcohol consumption (19).
4.1 Initial Alcohol Consumption Patterns
At baseline, the data revealed that adolescents with AAI had significantly higher instances of alcohol consumption and episodes of drunkenness before the AAI event compared to their peers. This finding is consistent with previous research indicating that early initiation and frequent alcohol use are predictors of more severe drinking problems and related risk behaviours in adolescence and later life (29). However, the prevalence of binge drinking before alcohol intoxication was reported lower than the Dutch average, which is unexpected since binge drinking is associated with alcohol intoxication (29). On the other hand, all these patients did eventually perform in binge drinking resulting in their alcohol intoxication.
4.2 Post-Intoxication Changes in Drinking Behaviour
Following the acute intoxication event, a notable decline in alcohol use was observed in the subsequent month. This reduction could be attributed to the immediate health scare and the subsequent intervention efforts, reflecting the known short-term efficacy of preventive programs in mitigating risky drinking behaviours (18). Alcohol consumption rose at 6–12 months post-intoxication, compared to 4–6 weeks after AAI, still remaining to be below the Dutch average. Interestingly, binge drinking did not increased proportionately 6–12 months post-intoxication. This suggests a potential shift in drinking patterns towards less intensive drinking sessions. The prevention programs might therefore also be successful in curbing binge drinking behaviours in the long run, which are often associated with acute health risks and long-term negative outcomes (29).
4.3 Alcohol-specific parental rule-setting and parental awareness
Prior to the alcohol-related emergency department presentation, a substantial proportion of parents either approved of alcohol use or did not have specific rules regarding it. Only one-third of the adolescents reported having strict alcohol-specific parental rules. Following the emergency department visit, more than one-third of parents adopted stricter alcohol-specific rules. This is a positive sign since indulgent and negligent parenting styles are associated with a significant increase in prevalence of adolescent binge drinking with 2.51-, and 2.82-fold, respectively (27). Additionally, adolescents' perception of high parental disapproval of substance use has been prospectively associated with a non-binge drinking trajectory (30). Parental awareness of lifetime and last-month alcohol use indicated that parents underestimated the presence of their children's alcohol consumption by 23.3%. This, while research shows that parental monitoring and involvement is a protective factor for alcohol use among adolescents (31, 32).
4.4 Strengths and limitations
This study has several strengths that enhance the reliability and significance of its findings: the longitudinal design allows for the observation of changes in drinking patterns over time, providing a dynamic view of adolescent behaviour post-intervention. This design helps understand the long-term effects and sustainability of the preventive program. Additionally, by evaluating not only alcohol consumption but also related risk behaviours such as smoking, substance use, sexual activity, psychological disorders and family and pedagogical factors, the study offers a holistic understanding of the adolescent risk profile. The comprehensive assessment helps identify correlations and potential causal relationships between different risk behaviours. Furthermore, comparing the study population's behaviours with Dutch national averages contextualizes the findings, highlighting the extent of risk behaviours in the studied group relative to broader trends. This comparison underscores the specific needs of the targeted population.
However, a limitation of this study is the lack of a control group of patients with alcohol intoxication who did not receive follow-up care, making it difficult to determine the extent to which the intervention program or the alcohol intoxication itself resulted in the observed decrease in alcohol use. Though, previous studies have shown that adolescents with problematic alcohol use reported reduced alcohol consumption and fewer alcohol-related problems after participating in motivational interviewing interventions compared to standard care (15–17).
Moreover, another limitation is the missing information of patients that were lost to follow-up. Prior research demonstrated follow-up rates of this out-patients clinic was 67% at the child psychologist (19). During the study period, there might have been a shift in the consultation approach with the child psychologist from universal prevention (where every adolescent was referred) to indicated prevention (where referrals were based on initial assessments and concerns). This potential change was because of personnel shortage at the paediatric medical psychology department and the corona pandemic which made live appointments in the hospital more complex. This change introduced heterogeneity into the lost-to-follow-up population and might have led to a selection bias of the study population, potentially resulting in either overestimation or underestimation of the actual problems among participants. The missing outcome parameters of adolescents who did not visit the paediatric psychology department due to continuation of pre-existing mental health care or direct referral to mental health care likely lead to underestimation of the prevalence of major outcomes in the study. Conversely, adolescents who were not referred to the psychology department due to indicated prevention might lead to overestimation of the prevalence of major outcomes among those that visited that paediatric psychology department. The effect of the adolescents that dropped out before visit to the paediatric psychology department could hypothetically influence the study results in both directions, making it challenging to precisely assess the overall impact (either underestimation or overestimation) of the findings. However, it is hypothesized that the true impact lies somewhere between these extremes.
In conclusion, these findings suggest that the preventive program had a short-term impact in reducing alcohol consumption among adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication (AAI), as well as a long-term impact in reducing binge-drinking behaviours. The program's success in mitigating binge-drinking behaviours aligns with its goals of promoting safer drinking habits among adolescents.