Australian Rotary Health

In July 2010, Monika Wadolowski commenced work on her PhD with the National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at the University of New South Wales, investigating the mediating effects of parental modelling, behavioural factors and mental wellbeing on adolescent drinking trajectories in relation to the parental supply of alcohol in Australia. This research forms part of a large-scale longitudinal national study investigating the short- and long-term impacts of parental supply of alcohol on Australian youth. Monika’s PhD is supervised by Professor Richard Mattick and Dr Delyse Hutchinson. Monika has been awarded a Whitcroft Family PhD Scholarship and Australian Postgraduate Award to conduct her PhD research. Monika also works as a Research Officer at NDARC in the area of parental supply of alcohol.

 

Prior to this, Monika completed her Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology & Sociology at the University of Sydney, graduating with Class I Honours in 2007. Monika also previously worked with the University of Sydney School of Public Health on a range of epidemiology and preventive public health research projects. Her previous research work focused on the areas of evidence-based medicine, cancer screening, decision making and informed choice, decision aid development and implementation, and alternative medicine. Through her diverse public health experience, Monika has acquired a wide range of research skills in quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research.

SUMMARY OF PROJECT:

Parental modelling & supply of alcohol: Does this improve or worsen drinking outcomes in young Australians?

Surprisingly, large-scale population surveys show that Australian parents are the largest supplier of alcohol to adolescents. Alcohol is also the largest contributor to the burden of Australian mental health disorders and injuries across all ages. According to the most comprehensive available data on Australian adolescent alcohol use, in 2005, 40% of 12 year olds had tried alcohol, increasing to nearly 90% of 17 year olds. Research shows that adolescent alcohol use is associated with other substance use, including illicit drugs, criminal activity, suicide attempts, physical fights and injuries, and unplanned and unprotected sex. Some parents may believe initiating their child with small quantities of alcohol within the family setting may teach responsible drinking. Other parents may feel their child is responsible enough, supplying alcohol to consume unsupervised. Likewise, other parents may choose not to supply alcohol, believing this is the most appropriate to teach responsible drinking. Furthermore, factors such as delinquency, having substance-using peers, anxiety and depression may also have important mediating effects on the impact of parental supply of alcohol on drinking patterns. Despite this, how parental supply of alcohol impacts adolescent drinking patterns over time is in fact unclear due to a lack of research in this area. There is a clear policy and community need to better understand the role of parental supply of alcohol on drinking patterns of young Australians, and what other factors may impact upon this.