Young People and Alcohol Study: Taste perception, attitudes and experiences

NDARC Staff

Jan Copeland, Paul Dillon and Peter Gates

Other Investigators

Richard Stevenson (Macquarie University)

Rationale

Drinking alcohol is considered a normative behaviour in adolescence, with adolescent drinkers the majority of consumers for some beverages. One of the new and increasingly popular beverages are ‘ready to drink’ (RTD) preparations. An RTD is a spirit or wine and a non-alcoholic drink, served in a pre-mixed format. The most popular of these products are mixtures of non-alcoholic beverages such as milk and soft drinks with alcoholic beverages, typically spirits. These RTDs are becoming increasingly popular, particularly among adolescent drinkers. Despite the level of media and policy attention devoted to the question of the effects of newer alcohol products there is no scientific evidence of their comparative palatability across age groups and gender and the potential impact on age of initiation, and patterns of alcohol use.

Aims

which beverages are most palatable to the adolescents and young adultse
if this pattern changes with age
the extent to which packaging affects the palatability ratings

Design and Method

A convenience sample of 350 participants was recruited, 70 in each of five age groups. Participants were grouped according to age into 12–13yrs, 14–15yrs, 16–17yrs, younger adults of 18–23yrs, and older adults of 24–30yrs. The experimental drinks included three sets of RTDs and their components:

Coke, Jim Beam Bourbon and their mix bourbon & Coke
chocolate milk, vodka and their mix Vodka Mudshake
Raspberry Fanta, Bacardi and their mix Watermelon Bacardi Breezer

Participants also tested popular alcoholic beverages, Tooheys New Beer, Jacobs Creek Chardonnay and a novel beverage Wintermelon Tea.

Benefits

Output

Copeland, J., Gates, P., Stevenson, D., & Dillon, P. (2006). Young people and alcohol: Taste perceptions, attitudes and experiences. Technical Report No. 241. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

Presentations given on the results of the research include the following:

Copeland, J. Young people and alcohol: Taste perception, attitudes and experiences. 67^th Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, Orlando, Florida. 22 June, 2005.

Copeland, J. Young people and alcohol: Taste perception, attitudes and experiences. APSAD 2005 National Conference “Drugs: Meeting New Challenges”: Melbourne. 8 November.

Copeland, J. Young people and alcohol: taste perception – interim findings. Invited presentation to the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra, 20 April.

Copeland, J. Young people and alcohol: taste perception. Presentation to the New Zealand Assistant Minister for Health, Sydney, 20 May.

Copeland, J. Young People and Alcohol Study: First results. Presentation to the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre Annual Symposium, Sydney, 28 July.

Funding

Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing

Further Information

Date Commenced: April 2004

Expected Date of Completion: January 2006

NDARC Project Code: 2004/2005 - P8

Website:

Contact

Jan Copeland

Collaborators

Macquarie University