How alike are young non-drinkers, former-drinkers, low-risk drinkers, and hazardous drinkers?

•We used AUDIT scores to identify non-, former-, low-risk, and hazardous drinkers.•Non- and former-drinkers were more similar to each other than they were to drinkers.•Low-risk drinkers were a distinct group different from hazardous drinkers.•We should not treat young people as representing a drinking continuum.•Interventions for high-risk drinkers should be distinguished from general campaigns.

The aim of this study was to examine whether – in terms of personality characteristics and beliefs – former-drinkers and people who have never consumed alcohol exist on a continuum that includes low-risk drinkers and hazardous drinkers, or are distinct groups. An online questionnaire hosted on a secure server was completed by 1418 young people (642 men and 776 women) aged 16–21 living in South-East England. Participants' scores on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) were used to classify them as non-drinkers, former-drinkers, low-risk drinkers or hazardous drinkers. Multinomial logistic regression identified eight significant multivariate correlates that explained 39% of the variance in men's AUDIT category membership (χ2(24) = 263.32, p < .01), and seven significant multivariate correlates that explained 41% of the variance in women's AUDIT category membership (χ2(21) = 332.91, p < .01). The results suggest that non-drinkers and former-drinkers are more similar to each other than they are to both low risk and hazardous drinkers. We should not, therefore, treat these groups of young people as representing a drinking continuum. In particular, interventions for high risk young drinkers may be more effective if distinguished from general campaigns intended for all young people.