Underage Drinking

Patterns of Underage Drinking

According to the Monitoring the Future Survey, an annual study of middle and high schoolers, approximately 70% of students will try alcohol by the time they reach 12th grade, and more than half of all 12th graders will report being drunk on alcohol at least once in their lives. These levels of consumption suggest that experimentation with alcohol is a kind of universal deviance: a deviant activity in which most people engage in spite of social disapproval (in this case, the fact that drinking underage is illegal).

While drinking alcohol underage is fairly common, we do know that some kinds of alcohol consumption are particularly risky. First, those who begin drinking before the age of 15 are at particularly high risk for developing drinking problems, particularly alcohol dependence. Those who experiment early also tend to have high rates of polydrug use, meaning that they are likely to use a variety of other intoxicating substances. In addition to early drug users, binge drinkers also have concerning patterns. Approximately 25% of high school students engage in binge drinking, or consuming more than five drinks in a single setting. Students who report binge drinking are more likely to report getting into fights, sexual assaults, driving or riding with a drunk driver, poor school performance, and attempting suicide. Finally, alcohol dependence tends to emerge in late adolescence and early adulthood. Prevalence rates for alcohol dependence peak around ages 18 to

20, notably before the legal drinking age of 21. Thus, those who will develop alcohol dependence tend to do so earlier in their lives.

To understand the patterns of underage drinking, it is important to understand the predictors of alcohol consumption. The strongest predictor of alcohol consumption is age. Rates of drinking increase gradually through adolescence, peaking at the age of 21. Alcohol consumption generally levels off around the age of 21 and stays steady until older adulthood (around age 50). While adolescents drink less often than young adults, they tend to drink more on a single occasion. Alcohol consumption is higher for boys than girls, although girls' alcohol consumption is on the rise. White adolescents and young adults [Page 762]drink at the highest rates, followed by Hispanics, African Americans, and finally Asian Americans. Alcohol consumption also tends to be higher for adolescents and young adults who come from families with a history of alcohol abuse and who have experienced maltreatment, neglect, and low levels of parental monitoring. On the other hand, those who have close, nurturing relationships with their parents are more likely to have nonusing friends and therefore are less likely to use. The youngest alcohol users tend to have personal histories of impulsivity, aggression, and early cognitive challenges.

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