Drinking During Adolescence

For many people, experience with drinking alcohol begins in adolescence. Yet for some youth, such early experimentation can spiral into problematic drinking patterns. Research has associated a variety of serious health risks with adolescent drinking, including the three leading causes of death among this age group (i.e., unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide) as well as unsafe sexual behavior. Although alcohol abuse and dependence are not often clinically diagnosed among youth of high school age and younger, it is possible that applying adult diagnostic criteria does not fully capture the extent of adolescent problem drinking. Risk factors for adolescent drinking encompass sociocultural factors, such as regulation of alcohol availability; parental behavior and drinking patterns; the influence and drinking habits of siblings and peers; personality traits, particularly those indicating low self-regulation; and positive beliefs about alcohol's effects. More research is necessary, however, to distinguish the factors that can predict adolescent problem drinking from those that predict consumption in general. KEY WORDS: adolescent; adolescence; AOD consumption; AOD associated consequences; risk factors; sociocultural AODC (causes of AOD use, abuse, and dependence); family as an AODC; peer relations; personality trait; AOD use initiation Researchers typically consider adolescence to be the developmental period during which youth are most at risk for initiating alcohol use. Many developmental theorists view adolescence as occurring from approximately age 10 (i.e., the beginning of pubertal development) through age 25 (i.e., when adult roles are established) (Feldman and Elliott 1990). This article, however, applies a more restrictive definition and primarily considers alcohol consumption from early adolescence through the high school years (i.e., approximately ages 10 to 18). Prevalence data suggest that most adolescents report some exposure to alcohol use and that use increases with age (Johnston et al. 1995). In terms of current consumption, recent national student survey data (see figure I ) show that 25 percent of 8th graders and 50 percent of 12th graders report consuming alcohol within the past month (Johnston et al. 1995). Moreover, a substantial proportion of those drinkers consume heavily:' 15 percent of the 8th graders and 28 percent of the 12th graders report having five or more drinks in a row in the past 2 weeks, and just under 3 percent of the 12th graders report daily use. National surveys have found some gradual declines in adolescent drinking since the peaks of the early 1980's, but the most recent trends, which show some small (i.e., not statistically significant) increases (Johnston et al. 1995), are less clear. The prevalence of adolescent drinking also varies demographically. Boys report more heavy drinking than do girls, and among high school seniors, white adolescents report more heavy drinking than do Hispanic or African-American adolescents. For example, 1994 national data for 12th graders (see figure 2) found that 32 percent of non-Hispanic Caucasians, 24 percent of Hispanics, and 14 percent of African-Americans reported consuming five or more drinks in a row in the past 2 weeks (Johnston et al. 1995). However, because these ethnic differences are less apparent at earlier grades, they could be caused partially by ethnic differences in school dropout rates (Johnston et al. 1995). (School-based surveys collect data on current students only; thus, these surveys cannot determine the alcohol consumption patterns of same-age school dropouts. To the degree that dropout rates vary by ethnicity, the survey results will be skewed.) Inconsistent definitions, as well as inter- and intracultural diversity, complicate comparisons among ethnic groups. In general, however, compared with other ethnic groups, Native American adolescents typically report the highest consumption rates, and Asian-American youth report the lowest (Johnstone 1994). …