NCJ Number
203333
Journal
Addiction Volume: 98 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2003 Pages: 1505-1511
Date Published
November 2003
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study examined changes in drinking behavior over time among Danish adolescents and determined which alcoholic beverages and drinking patterns had the greatest impact on later alcohol consumption.
Abstract
Data were obtained from the Danish Longitudinal Health Behavior Study. The population was a random sample of the Danish population selected from the National Civic Registration System. The baseline survey was in 1990, and the first follow-up was in 1994. The analyses for the current study used the youngest cohort, which consisted of 14-15 year-olds at baseline. The response rate for this cohort was 85 percent in 1990 (n=847). The response rate in 1994 was 86 percent (n=729), which involved 419 females and 310 males. Alcohol intake was assessed by self-reports on the experience of drunkenness, quantity, and frequency of consumption. High and low intake of alcoholic beverages was determined according to thresholds recommended by the Danish National Board of Health. The data indicate that at 19 years old, 80 percent of the sample drank alcoholic beverages monthly, and 24 percent of the men and 11 percent of the women had an alcohol intake above the recommended national limits, i.e, 21 weekly units of alcohol for men and 14 for women. The consumption of alcoholic beverages at age 15 increased the risk of drinking alcoholic beverages weekly at the age of 19. Drunkenness among the 15-year-old boys and the consumption of distilled alcoholic beverages ("spirits") by the 15-year-old girls showed the strongest predictive relationship with excessive consumption at age 19. Thus, teens drinking behavior continued into young adulthood, placing them at increased risk of being long-term, heavy consumers of alcoholic beverages. 3 tables, 2 figures, and 23 references