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. 2021 Apr 13;16(1):23.
doi: 10.1186/s13722-021-00231-z.

Alcohol consumption and dependence is linked to the extent that people experience need satisfaction while drinking alcohol in two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

James H Conigrave  1   2 , Emma L Bradshaw  3 , Katherine M Conigrave  4   5   6 , Richard M Ryan  3 , Scott Wilson  4   7 , Jimmy Perry  7 , Michael F Doyle  4   5 , K S Kylie Lee  4   5   8   9
Affiliations

Alcohol consumption and dependence is linked to the extent that people experience need satisfaction while drinking alcohol in two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

James H Conigrave et al. Addict Sci Clin Pract. .

Abstract

Background: Unhealthy alcohol use is a key concern for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ('Indigenous Australian') communities. Due to systematic disadvantage and inter-generational trauma, Indigenous Australians may be less likely to have satisfied basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness). When people are need-thwarted, they may engage in compensatory behaviours to feel better in the short-term. We explore the relationship between perceived basic psychological needs satisfaction and alcohol consumption use among Indigenous Australians. Better understanding the functions that alcohol may play for some Indigenous Australian drinkers may aid communities, clinicians, and policy makers in improving programs for reducing drinking-related harms.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey of Indigenous Australians (aged 16 years or older) living in two South Australian communities. Participants were eligible if they had consumed any alcohol in the past 12 months. Spearman correlations and linear regressions were used to determine if feeling more autonomous, competent, and related to others (need satisfied) while drinking, was linked to alcohol consumption and dependence.

Results: Controlling for participant demographics, reporting feeling need satisfied while drinking was linked to drinking more alcohol per day, reporting more frequent symptoms of alcohol dependence, spending more money on alcohol, and scoring higher on the AUDIT-C.

Conclusions: Unhealthy drinking may partly stem from attempts to satisfy basic psychological needs. Programs which support Indigenous Australians to meet basic psychological needs could reduce attempts to meet psychological needs through alcohol consumption.

Keywords: Alcohol consumption; Basic psychological needs; Grog Survey App; Indigenous Australians; Self-determination theory.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Responses to the alcohol satisfaction of psychological needs questions. The x-axis displays the percentage of respondents. The area to the right of the central line displays the percentage of participants who disagreed with a given question. The area to the left shows the percentage of those who agreed
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Scree plot (a) and Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) of items (b). The scree plot describes the variance explained by each principal component. The multi-dimensional scaling plot visualises similarity between items as distances. Items closer to each other are more similar (correlated)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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