Ralph Hingson, Sc.D., chair of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Department at the Boston University School of Public Health, said that research has shown that the younger a person is when they first start drinking, the more likely they are to become dependent upon alcohol at some point in their lifetime. Early onset of drinking also can lead to problems other than dependence. And in a forthcoming study to be published in the journal Pediatrics, Hingson and colleagues conclude that children who start drinking prior to age 14 are seven times more likely to engage in an alcohol-related fight over their lifetime than individuals who start drinking at age 21. Physicians can play a critical role in counseling their young patients about the consequences of starting to drink, said Hingson.
Research shows that such brief interventions can be highly effective.
For instance, when trauma patients injured while under the influence of alcohol were told of the risks of drinking and advised of treatment resources, they reported consuming an average of 21 fewer drinks per week a year later, according to a study led by Larry Gentilello, M.D., of the Univeristy of Washington and published in the Annals of Surgery in 1999. Environmental prevention also can prevent drinking problems associated with early onset of use, Hingson said. Richard Yoast, director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Alcohol Program at the American Medical Association, said the power of the environmental-change model lies in its ability to create a new standard of behavioral expectations around drinking and other drug use. Unfortunately, said Yoast, the alcoholic-beverage industry actively works against some of the key facets of environmental prevention, including price controls, enforcement of liquor laws, and curbs on availability. By and large, the information people get about alcohol is through alcohol advertising.