People who start drinking alcohol at an early age, i.e. before the age of 14 years are more likely to become alcohol dependent than those who stay away until they are 21. Researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health's Youth Alcohol Prevention Center, USA, analysed the results of a 2001-2002 survey of 43,093 adults conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. They found that those who start drinking at an early age also develop dependency faster and have a longer struggle with alcohol throughout their lives. It was found that 47 percent of people who started drinking before the age of 14 years met the diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence within 10 years, as compared to 4 percent of those who started drinking at 21. Twenty-seven percent of the men and women who started drinking before age 14 were alcohol dependent before the age of 25, as compared to 4 percent of those who began drinking at 21. Using statistical techniques, the researchers factored the influence of other factors that could be related to early drinking and the development of alcohol dependence, such as antisocial behaviour during childhood, a family history of alcoholism, depression and education level. Even after controlling such factors, people who started drinking early were 2.6 times more likely to have episodes of alcohol dependence lasting longer than one year and nearly three times as likely to have six to seven symptoms of alcohol dependence versus three to five symptoms. The findings underscore the dangers of early alcohol use; therefore efforts should be made to help prevent drinking among teens.
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine,
July 2006