Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine

Low-Risk Drinking Advice and Public Health

Expert consensus now confirms there is no safe level of alcohol use for health, and this reflects two key strands of evidence. First, researchers found that many prior studies purporting “health benefits” of moderate drinking suffer from consistent methodological flaws which, when corrected, reduce or eliminate this relationship. Second, multiple studies now clearly illustrate dose–response relationships between alcohol use and the development of multiple chronic health conditions across the lifespan, even at low levels of consumption. Many countries have acted on this new evidence by revising their national low-risk drinking advice (LRDA), which serves as a critical mechanism to inform the public of the best available evidence regarding the health risks posed by alcohol use. However, multiple factors undermine the adoption and effectiveness of LRDA, including public misinformation about the potential health benefits of moderate drinking, and alcohol industry actions that cloud evidence, undermine global consensus, and block public health policy.

Low-risk drinking advice (LRDA) is used in multiple ways by different population groups. For example, it is used by policy makers to guide public health policies designed to reduce alcohol-related harms for individuals and the community, by health professionals in identifying alcohol-related harm and thresholds for intervention, and by the public in assessing the risk of their own alcohol use patterns. Given the centrality of LRDA as a mechanism in establishing thresholds of alcohol-related risk, it is important to understand the barriers to LRDA adoption expressed by the different population groups. Further, it is necessary to explore the limits of LRDA adoption, including the degree to which LRDA may or may not play in enhancing health and wellbeing in different populations and cultures. Lastly, it is critical to identify and challenge the alcohol industry activities that serve to undermine global consensus on the evidence underpinning LRDA and the actions necessary to reduce harm to the public.

This Article Collection explores low-risk drinking advice (LRDA) and its role in public health. This spans multiple potential sub-topics including (but not limited to):

• the factors effecting the public understanding and/or adoption of LRDA;
• the role of LRDA in designing public health policy and/or interventions;
• national approaches to LRDA review and adoption;
• the place of LRDA in the lives of different populations;
• cross-national and cross-cultural approaches to LRDA;
• alcohol industry actions influencing the process of LRDA revision and/or adoption.

For this Article Collection, we are seeking submissions of the following manuscript types:

• original research articles (quantitative – 3,500 to 5,000 words; qualitative – up to 8,000 words);
• brief reports (up to 2,000 words);
• intervention developments (up to 3,000 words);
• reviews, meta-analyses, and meta-regression analyses (up to 8,000 words)

Please contact Dr. MK Huffman at [email protected] with any queries about discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system.

Andy Towers is an associate professor in mental health and addiction in the School of Health Sciences, Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand. He is the Co-Director of the Mental Health and Addiction Programme at Massey University where his research explores the epidemiology of alcohol, other drug use, addiction, and their harms across the lifespan. He works on alcohol use and health research projects with national and international agencies with a focus on applying research findings to improve health policy and health services, and he is an advisor to the New Zealand Government on alcohol use screening and substance harm reduction initiatives.

Chrissy Severinsen is a professor of public health in the School of Health Sciences, Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand. She co-leads the Mental Health and Addiction Programme and postgraduate public health programmes. Her research focuses on advancing health equity through community and settings-based health promotion, improving health and social service provision, and public health education.

David Newcombe is an associate professor in Psychology in the School of Health at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He has had over twenty-five years’ experience working in the public health and addiction sector in New Zealand and Australia, with extensive experience in designing and delivering training courses especially for addiction clinicians. His research is at the nexus of psychology, addiction, and public health practice with a focus on the translation of research evidence into the enhancement of health professional practice and service delivery.

The Guest Advisors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this work.