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    Embedded commercial technologies : the role of smartphones and alcohol marketing in young adult drinking cultures : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Hebden, Ross Tāne
    As a result of the near saturation of smartphone devices among young adults, their drinking cultures are now effectively mobile. This expands the capabilities and potential for alcohol marketing embedded within those cultures, impacting on their development and the health outcomes associated with them. Couched within a growing critical literature on digital alcohol marketing, my research consisted of two related studies that investigated the role smartphones play in young adult drinking cultures. First, I attended the drinking events of 5 friendship groups (27 participants), and then conducted 8 follow-up interviews with a subset of individuals. Second, 9 participants downloaded a bespoke app on their phones that recorded phone activities across a drinking event. Within a week I showed these participants an animated video ‘map’ of their phone data from the night and interviewed them about the details. The data consisted of observational photos and field notes, transcripts of interviews and smartphone data (e.g. location, apps used, notifications headers, timestamps). These data were analysed using discursive approaches. Four discourses were identified, namely smartphones as social disrupters, smartphones as social facilitators, participatory marketing and constantly connected drinking cultures. Together the discourses highlighted that smartphones were crucial to sociality. However, participants also described smartphones as potentially distracting from important face-to-face sociality and the constant connection as being overwhelming at times. Findings suggested that mobilisation of young adult sociality has exacerbated the relationship between alcohol marketing and young adult drinking cultures by providing means for brands and alcohol-centric content to be naturalised into their social practices. In particular, the apps Snapchat and Facebook Messenger played prominent roles in expanding participants’ drinking cultures into cyberspace, while obscuring the commercial origins of marketing material. Smartphones are an important aspect of young adult drinking cultures due to the ways in which they shape young adult sociality and allow alcohol marketers to engage with them. Commercial entities that design smartphone devices, social media platforms, and alcohol marketing all have vested interests in maintaining a strong presence in young adult sociality. There are tensions between young adult autonomy and their reliance on these powerful commercial entities for provision of integral cultural services. Empowering young adult voices and ensuring their participation in alcohol legislation that is relevant to them, as well as continuing attempts to legislate transnational social media businesses, are important directions for policy and harm minimisation strategies.
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    What contributes to alcohol and substance misuse recovery while parenting in integrated residential rehabilitation? : thesis submitted in partial completion of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Stanley, Laura
    Alcohol and substance use recovery while parenting is a complicated endeavour. People in alcohol and substance misuse recovery while parenting have unique and complex needs, which mainstream treatment approaches cannot always meet. Treatment often focuses solely on substance misuse and fails to pay attention to parenting, and most often, parents and their children are separated during residential treatment. Parents often face the tough decision to either take care of themselves or take care of their children. Integrated treatment services, which include both drug and alcohol treatment and parenting support, have been developed to break the often intergenerational cycle of substance use and troubled parenting. These programmes have rendered successful outcomes in participants achieving and maintaining abstinence, improving their mental health, and supporting responsive parenting. However, little is known about what particular factors in integrated services support these positive changes made in recovery while parenting. The current research explores the unique factors that have contributed to parents’ recovery at the Family Centre, an integrated parent-child rehabilitation facility. The research additionally illustrates the needs of these individuals in recovery. Experiences of recovery and parenting were explored in semi-structured interviews and case studies with mothers undertaking a recovery programme. Through a reflexive thematic analysis, three themes were constructed: ‘The Construction of Self’ ‘The Therapeutic Milieu’, and ‘Relational Recovery’. The complex histories and recovery journeys of research participants were given context through the use of case vignettes. The findings highlight the complex and multifaceted nature of recovery while parenting, particularly the role that parenting plays in driving recovery-orientated change. The relational nature of recovery was a prevalent factor in recovery, providing a developing perspective on how recovery is viewed in research and practice.
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    Concomitant alcohol and alcohol-interactive medication use by older New Zealanders : investigating the prevalence, and potential associations with health, healthcare utilization, and depression : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Barnard, Eddie
    Background: Older adults are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of alcohol-medication interactions (AMIs) than younger populations, and are more likely to use medications capable of causing an AMI when used with alcohol (alcohol-interactive (AI) medications). Survey findings from the United States (US) and Europe indicate many older adults use alcohol and AI-medications concomitantly. However, the prevalence of this issue in New Zealand is currently unknown, and few observational studies have explored the impact of concomitant alcohol and AI-medication use (concomitant alcohol/AI-medication use) on health outcomes in community samples. Research exploring motivating factors underlying alcohol use by AI-medication users indicates having awareness of AMI risks often motivates reduced alcohol consumption. There is also evidence that depression may increase the likelihood of concomitant alcohol/AI-medication use, particularly when alcohol is used to ‘self-medicate’ depressive symptoms. However, the moderating effects of depression on alcohol use by AI-medication users have not been directly assessed in a large community sample. Design and Methods: Two studies were conducted, both involved secondary analysis of existing survey data and national pharmaceutical claims data. Samples were drawn from a representative sampling frame of older adults living in New Zealand. The first study (study 1) analysed data from a survey of adults aged 54-70 years, and the second study (study 2) analysed data from an augmented sample aged 49-83 years. The prevalence of concomitant alcohol/AI-medication use was explored in both study samples overall, and in subsamples of participants aged ≥65 years. Study 1 investigated the potential impact of concomitant alcohol/AI-medication use on general physical health and healthcare utilization. Study 2 assessed the potential relationships between alcohol use, AI-medication use, and depression. An evidence-based protocol was developed to inform methods of classifying AI-medications and measuring AI-medication use among survey participants using pharmaceutical dispensing records. Relationships between variables of interest were assessed using a series of hierarchical regression models and Chi-squared tests. Results: Alcohol and AI-medications were used concomitantly by approximately one-in-four participants aged 54-70 years, one-in-three participants aged 49-83 years, and two-in-five participants aged 65-83 years. Concomitant alcohol/AI-medication use was not significantly associated with physical health or healthcare utilization, although these non-significant findings may reflect limitations of the outcome measures used in the present research. Alcohol use was negatively associated with AI-medication use, with stronger associations being observed for medications associated with more severe AMIs. These findings are consistent with research and theory indicating AMI awareness may lead to reduced alcohol consumption by AI-medication users. Depression did not influence the relationship between AI-medication use and alcohol use. Conclusions: The present research findings indicate many New Zealand older adults are at risk of AMI. Providing relevant health warnings may help reduce the potential for AMI-related harm, although additional intervention may be needed for many older adults. Future research in this area should include longitudinal health outcome measures that are specific to the effects of AMI, and measures that assess drinking motives directly. The two studies presented in the present thesis were the first to explore the prevalence of concomitant alcohol/AI-medication use by older adults in New Zealand, which is a major contribution of this project overall. Another important contribution was the development of an evidence-based framework for measuring AI-medication use among survey participants.
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    'Feels a bit naughty when you're a mum' : alcohol use amongst mothers with preschool children : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Massey University, Manawatū, Aotearoa/New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Pedersen, Michelle
    Over the past two decades, young New Zealand women have consumed alcohol in a culture of normalised intoxication, aligned with postfeminist and neoliberal values of autonomy, fun and freedom of choice. As these women transition into motherhood, they are exposed to contradictory messages on alcohol. Targeted by growing media and advertising messages encouraging alcohol use as a coping strategy for motherhood, they are also expected to conform to ‘good’ mothering ideology. With very little research in this area, the current study aimed to explore the way mothers of preschool children talk about their current alcohol use, their past alcohol use in young adulthood, other mothers’ alcohol use and their partner’s alcohol use. Using a gendered approach the goal was to develop an understanding of how these mothers accepted, resisted and negotiated meanings on alcohol use in early motherhood and how their drinking was negotiated with their partners and parental responsibilities. Following ethical approval, seven friendship discussion groups, involving 30 mothers between ages 28 and 41 were conducted in Wellington, New Zealand. Transcribed discussions were subject to Foucauldian discourse analysis, which showed that the women drew upon the ‘work hard, play hard’ and ‘developmental age and stage’ discourses to normalise excessive drinking and experimentation in young adulthood. In comparison, current drinking was discussed as routine and constructed as a ‘reward’, for ‘relaxation’ and as a form of ‘adult time out’, providing these mothers with a way to cope and a brief escape from the demands of mothering. Unlike fathers’ drinking, which was constructed as ‘masculine’, the mothers’ drinking was highly policed and sanctioned through public ‘surveillance’ and their own ‘self-monitoring’. Mothers who deviated from idealised expectations of ‘good’ mothering were seen as lower-class. Although a ‘considerate family man’ discourse was drawn upon, it was the mothers who still took on the primary caregiving role. They often instigated couple negotiations on who was drinking and it was frequently their drinking (rather than fathers) that was restricted due to parental responsibilities. Findings are discussed in terms of what this means for public health campaigns, women’s access to alcohol support as well as wider implications for gender relations.
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    She's a lush : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Creative Writing at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Collette, Mariana
    In this thesis I examine the form of memoir and look at how and why female memoirists use fictional techniques to establish their narrative of problem drinking. Over the last decade, there has been a rise in the number of memoirs being written about the problematic relationship between women and their drinking, yet there is still very little about this topic from a New Zealand perspective. I argue that memoir is an important tool to examine larger social issues through a personal viewpoint and that the use of memoir gives power to women’s voices on particular issues. This thesis is comprised of two parts. Section one is a critical essay entitled ‘Women who Drink and Memoir.’ Section Two is a creative component consisting of a memoir piece entitled ‘She’s a Lush.’ The critical essay examines Drink: The Intimate Relationship between Women and Alcohol by Ann Dowsett- Johnston (2013) ; Lit by Marry Karr (2010); Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp (1996); Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola (2015); A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin (1977) and Mrs D. is Going Without by Lotta Dann (2014), exploring how and why they use social and medical data, metaphor, chronology, characterisation and intimate detail to tell their story of problem drinking. The creative component is my own memoir.
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    Increases in consumption and harms among young people in the context of alcohol policy liberalisation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2011) Huckle, Taisia
    Objective: To assess drinking patterns and alcohol-related harms among young people in the context of substantial liberalising alcohol policy change in New Zealand. Five studies were developed to address this objective which assessed: (i) trends in drinking patterns, alcohol-related problems and harms during the time of the liberalising policy change and (ii) specific policy changes relevant to young people in New Zealand: the lowering of the minimum purchase age, the introduction of ready to drinks and alcohol outlet density (alcohol outlets had proliferated due to the relaxation of the liquor licensing system). Methods: General population alcohol surveys and routinely collected harms datasets were utilised. Survey measures were: typical occasion quantity, drinking frequency, heavier drinking, self-reported drunkenness, alcohol-related problems and individual demographic measures. Harms measures included: prosecutions for disorder offending, prosecutions for driving with excess breath alcohol, alcohol-involved crashes (all and fatal) and individual demographic measures. Analysis techniques utilised in Studies One through Five were as follows: quantile regression, general linear models, broken stick Poisson regression, logistic regression (and analysis of variance) and multi-level modelling. When possible the wider New Zealand population was considered in relation to young people. Young people were defined as those up to 24 years of age (inclusive). Results: In the context of alcohol policy liberalisation young people, and in particular teenagers, were observed to experience the greatest increases in typical occasion quantities, alcohol-related problems and harms relative to other groups in the New Zealand population. Specific liberalising policy contexts relevant to young people, including the lowering of the minimum purchase age, ready to drinks and alcohol outlet density were also associated with increased quantities consumed or increased harms among teenagers. Conclusion: The public health problem of increased alcohol consumption and related harms among young people in New Zealand can be reduced. It will, however, take effective restrictive alcohol policy controls to achieve this.
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    He tirohanga taurahere tangata : the social context of older Māori alcohol use in Aotearoa/New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) Herbert, Sarah
    Older Māori alcohol use is an area requiring immediate attention because: older Māori will make up a significant proportion of the future Māori population, there is clear and evidenced health impacts of alcohol use; including those related to older age, and, little is known about older people’s alcohol use, especially among older Māori. This thesis utilises a public health perspective and a social perspective of alcohol use to develop a nuanced understanding of the social context of older Māori alcohol use. Three exploratory studies were grounded in a Māori centred research approach. The first was an analysis of existing survey data to explore older Māori alcohol use, and its relationships to socio-demographic variables. This study identified two significant relationships: hazardous alcohol use among older Māori is related to social network membership, and binge drinking is related to Māori cultural identity. To explore the nature of these relationships the next stage of the project involved two qualitative studies to provide a broader social perspective of alcohol use. Study two explored the personal experiences of alcohol use among thirteen older Māori to understand the broader social location of Māori alcohol use. Findings from a thematic analysis of interview data highlighted four key social contexts in which Māori alcohol use occurs: a sporting culture, a working culture, the context of family, and Māori culture, and important social factors and key life events which influence Māori alcohol use across the lifetime. The third study drew on the shared perspectives of alcohol use among five kaupapa whānau (groups with a common purpose) comprising older Māori members, to understand the socially shared meanings of Māori alcohol use. Narrative analysis of the data revealed the importance of whanaungatanga (maintaining relationships) in determining older Māori alcohol use and their engagement in social environments where alcohol is present. These findings additionally highlight Māori cultural understandings of alcohol use. Overall, this thesis highlights three central features that contextualise Māori alcohol use: whānau (family); whanaungatanga; and diversity. This thesis suggests important shifts in theoretical approaches to understanding Māori alcohol use that will guide future research. Further, the findings provide suggestions for the development of culturally responsive alcohol policy and health promotion practice to better meet the health and wellbeing needs of Māori in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
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    Older adults and alcohol : a study of registered social workers' assessment practices : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Henley, Lee
    Difficulties resulting from alcohol use are a pervasive social issue across New Zealand, affecting people from all walks of life and ages. Registered social workers (RSWs) are ideally placed to breakdown taboos, support people to address difficulties arising from their use, and ultimately to improve our relationship with alcohol in New Zealand. This thesis explores eight registered social workers’ understanding of older adults’ (OA) alcohol use and alcohol assessment processes. It is a qualitative study using a grounded theory method to interpret data gathered from semi-structure interviews. The research initially focused on four core aims: a) whether participants asked OAs about their alcohol use, b) whether participants’ perceptions of OAs affected assessment processes, c) whether participants had received any training in this area and d) whether agency assessment tools supported participants in assessment processes. A range of additional findings, extending these aims, were made and are included in the study’s analysis. Some of the study’s findings endorse current evidence, while some are surprising and sit outside of current literature. Participants’ practice was largely affected by ‘perception based practice’ possibly leading to negative assessment outcomes for OAs. In fact, alcohol was seen as outside the RSW scope of practice. It is recommended that education, training and supervision be used to develop an ‘evidenced informed’ model of practice; moving away from a single hypothesis to a multi- hypothesis approach and perception based to standardised questions. This would support an ability to challenge individual and system-wide perceptions, and intervention in-line with what is expected in Codes of Practice. Recommendations are made for a range of agencies including: District Health Boards (DHBs), the Ministry of Health (MOH), Health Promotion Agency (HPA), Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB), and for the social work profession itself.
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    Evaluating the effectiveness of SADD (Students Against Driving Drunk) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2003) Robertson, Leonard William
    This research arose from a request from the New Zealand Students Against Driving Drunk (SADD) Trust. The Trust needed to have the activities of SADD evaluated for effectiveness in order to satisfy the requirements of their sponsors. SADD claims that its mission is to reduce harm amongst students by promoting alternatives to drinking and driving through positive peer influences. Drinking and driving is a risky behaviour. Substantial work has been done in the area of risk taking and driving and various methods have been used to modify adolescent risk taking behaviours. The researcher had a particular interest in the work that had been done in this regard on personality development through education. For these reasons the scope of the evaluation was expanded to include risk taking, peer influences and personality development. Three methods of data gathering were used. These included administering the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT) of ego development on two occasions a year apart to the same students. Secondly, face to face interviews were conducted with a sample of students throughout the year 2000 and finally a written questionnaire was sent to those schools with the most active SADD groups. These three methods enabled the effectiveness of SADD to be assessed from a number of diflerent perspectives. The results obtained identified the strengths of SADD and enabled suggestions to be made for improvement in some areas. The research also identified areas in which additional research into personality development and its link with behaviour would be of value.
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    Masculinity and alcohol in postfeminist popular culture : teenage boys consume music videos : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, NZ
    (Massey University, 2015) Lindsay, Samuel
    Within a highly liberalised New Zealand market, excessive alcohol consumption by young men remains concerning for its relation to a raft of poor health and social outcomes. Various media formats construct alcohol consumption as desirable through gendered discourses, particularly the music video. Music videos are easily accessible through online platforms, are aimed at teenage audiences, and are increasingly linked to the alcohol industry. This research explored first, how masculinity and alcohol consumption are constructed within four mainstream pop music videos and second, how young teenage boys talk about these music videos after viewing them. Critical multi modal discourse analysis was employed to analyse the lyrics, music and visual content of the music videos, and discourse analysis to examine the talk of eleven boys, aged 13-14. The boys were recruited from a co-educational urban secondary school in New Zealand. The videos constructed discourses of provision, extreme consumption, and various forms of freedom and together they offered specific subject positions, including the playboy and female objectification. These findings are discussed in terms of post-feminist capitalist culture and hegemonic masculinity. The teenage participants took up the discourses constructed in the videos but in both resistant and accepting ways. They drew on discourses of enjoyment, animalistic/biological, feminist, and moral/ health discourses, and employed several discursive strategies to position themselves as critics of the popular culture that the videos represented. However, discrepancies and contradictions within the boys’ responses were found. These included the use of a ‘slut’ discourse, as well as a discourse of women’s enjoyment, to accept the objectification of women in the videos. Although the participants largely rejected alcohol as bad through a moral/ health discourse, certain acceptances of the artists’ authenticity, the videos’ visual content, and minimisations of alcohol content suggested ways in which alcohol might be accepted. The findings are analysed and discussed in relation to issues of post-feminism and hegemonic masculinity theory. Potential future directions and implications are explored, such as more sophisticated media interventions targeted at the complex ways in which powerful post-feminist and hegemonic discourses obscure their operations.