National Study of the Demography of Adolescent Drinking Practices in 1980 (From Youth and Alcohol Abuse: Readings and Resources, P (5)-16, 1986, Carla M Felsted, ed. -- See NCJ-117182)

• NCJ Number: 117183
• Author(s): R A Zucker; T C Harford
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: Oryx Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report is an update on the demography of adolescent drinking in the United States as of spring 1980, based on the periodic Gallup Youth Survey, a phone survey representative of U.S. teenagers aged 13-18, including those residing in Alaska and Hawaii.

Abstract

Data indicate that by the time children reach the age of 13, approximately 30 percent of the boys and 22 percent of the girls are drinkers. Through adolescence, increasing proportions become drinkers until by age 18, 92 percent of the boys and 73 percent of the girls are drinkers. Adolescents from blue-collar families are somewhat less likely to be drinkers than are those from white-collar families. Generally, the likelihood of heavier drinking among adolescents is inversely related to their parents' educational level. Catholics and whites are least likely to be nondrinkers, and adolescents from the Northeast are more likely to be drinkers than those from other regions. Drunkenness among adolescents is still a comparatively rare occurrence. When compared with earlier similar surveys, the present study indicates that alcohol consumption among adolescents is not on the increase and shows relative stability in alcoholic beverage consumption levels over the last 5 years. 5 tables, 9 references.