Early onset mood disorders and first alcohol use in the general population

•Survival analysis modelled relationships between early onset mood disorders and first alcohol use.•Early onset bipolar disorder increased the odds of first alcohol use by 62%.•Different relationships were found when looking at the developmental period after 14 years of age.•Prevention and intervention efforts should target mood disorders and alcohol use together.

BackgroundMood disorders and alcohol use are common in the general population and often occur together. This study explored how early onset mood disorders relate to age of first alcohol use in the Australian general population.MethodsDiscrete time survival analysis modelled the odds of first alcohol use among those with, versus without, an early onset DSM-IV mood disorders (major depression, dysthymia or bipolar disorder). Data came from the 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (N=8841).ResultsEarly onset mood disorders as an overall class were not significantly related to the odds of first alcohol use in any given year. On examining the different types of mood disorders individually early onset bipolar disorder was a significant predictor of first alcohol use. The analysis then looked at interactions with time and found that after the age of 14 years the presence of an early onset mood disorder significantly increased the odds of first alcohol use by 32%.LimitationsRetrospective recall was used to determine age of onset data which is subject to known biases and replication is recommended in some subgroup analysis due to smaller sample sizes.ConclusionsMood disorders, particularly bipolar disorder, act as unique risk factors for first alcohol use in the general population and show significant interactions with developmental timing. The findings point to the potential utility of prevention programs that target alcohol use and mood disorders together from early adolescence.