Alcoholism Health Article

Adolescence

A number of different indicators have been used to index alcohol-related behaviors during adolescence. One important indicator has been to know approximately how many adolescents have consumed alcoholic beverages in their lifetime, regardless of the quantity consumed or any problems directly associated with alcohol use. The National Institute of Drug Abuse, a federal government agency under the National Institutes of Health, has conducted annual national surveys of teenage substance use for about 20 years. These annual surveillance surveys of substance use among seniors (12th graders) have been completed at the University of Michigan and are collectively referred to as the Monitoring the Future Studies. These studies have been used to monitor historical trends in substance use among adolescents (e.g., increases or decreases in the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and illicit drugs) and to identify new drugs (e.g., "designer" drugs) or new patterns of co-occurring (i.e., combined) substance use that may be relevant for prevention research efforts and for social policy decision-making.

In addition, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence has reported similar findings about the scope of alcohol use by adolescents.

The findings for "ever used alcohol in your lifetime" question among seniors has remained relatively stable from 1993 to 1995, hovering around 80%; the prevalence was somewhat higher in 1991 and 1992, with approximately 88% of high school seniors having used alcohol in their lifetime. However, the percentage of seniors who reported having been drunk in their lifetime has remained largely unchanged from 1991 to 1995, ranging from 62.5 to 65.4%. Furthermore, the number of seniors engaging in "binge drinking," that is consuming five or more drinks in a single setting in the two-week period preceding the survey assessment, has remained unchanged from 1991 to 1995, with a rate of 28-29%. These alcohol use statistics indicate that by their senior year of high school, most adolescents will have used alcohol, over 60% will have been drunk, and over one-quarter will have engaged in binge drinking.

In addition to these alcohol use findings for seniors, there are also some findings for younger age groups. For 8th and 10th graders, "ever used alcohol in your lifetime" was reported by approximately 55% and 71% of children, respectively, across the years 1993 to 1995. Similar to the seniors, the rates of "ever been drunk" were stable across the 1991 to 1995 time period, with a rate of approximately 26% for 8th graders and 47% for 10th graders. Thus, it is significant to note that the majority of children have used alcohol by the time they are in 8th grade, and that one-fourth of them have consumed enough alcohol on a single occasion to characterize themselves as being drunk.

The previous information pertains to indicators of alcohol use across the total sample of adolescents; however, there are some interesting differences for subgroups (e.g., boys and girls) of adolescents. Girls typically begin consuming alcohol at a somewhat later age than boys, but by their senior year, nearly as many girls as boys have used alcohol at some point in their lifetime. Sometimes this has been interpreted to reflect a convergence in drinking practices across the sex groups. Nevertheless, on measures of high-volume (heavy) drinking and alcohol-related problems (e.g., DUI infractions), boys still evidence more alcohol-related difficulties than girls.

Subgroup differences for alcohol use have also been indicated for various racial/ethnic groups. The highest percentage of users of alcohol among teenagers are Caucasians and Native Americans, followed closely by Hispanics. The lowest percentage of users of alcohol among teenagers are reported by African American and Asian American teenagers. These findings have been replicated in national and state surveys and across different historical time periods. Hence, not all adolescents are equally likely to consume alcohol during the teenage years, as subcultural practices (e.g., beliefs about the negative impact of alcohol use, religious training, dedication to school/career aspirations) among some subgroups may influence the likelihood of consuming alcohol during this period of development. There is some evidence that the parents of African American children more frequently speak to their children about alcohol and substance use than Caucasian parents, and establish clear rules for drug use, including contingent consequences for breaking the rules.

Open parent-child communication about alcohol and drug use and clear guidelines for use (or non-use) appear to be some deterrents of alcohol use among adolescents.