Young People, Alcohol and Norms: Italian Young People’s Opinions and Attitudes towards Alcohol Regulation

The study examines Italian young people’s opinions and attitudes towards alcohol policies in order to shed light on the potential challenges to the introduction of more restrictive policies. A mixed methods research design was employed. A CAWI survey and online forum targeted 15–25 year olds, resulting in 1,816 valid responses to the online questionnaires and 86 blog comments; focus groups were conducted with two different groups, aged 15–17 and 23–25, including 31 participants. The study indicated that young people are rather well informed about the law, and have generally positive opinions about alcohol-related regulation. Nevertheless, opinions and behaviours do not always match. Findings are consistent with more general reflections about the gap between attitudes and behaviours. A large majority of respondents express negative opinions about more restrictive alcohol availability norms. The study shows the lack of enforcement of current laws and the consequences of that on young people’s attitudes towards the law.