Youth Drinking Rates and Problems: A Comparison of European Countries and the United States

• NCJ Number: 211446
• Author(s): Joel Grube Ph.D.
• Date Published: May 2005
• Length: 6 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Corporate Author: Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
• Sale Source: Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse/NCJRS
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded September 28, 2005.

Annotation

This report presents a comparative analysis of the drinking patterns of European and American youths.

Abstract

It has been a widely held assumption that American youth consume more alcohol and experience more alcohol-related problems than their European counterparts. This assumption is often used to promote the elimination of U.S. minimum drinking age laws or to promote programs that teach children to drink responsibly. Until recently, there was little empirical evidence available to compare the drinking patterns of American and European youth. Data from the 2003 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) and the 2003 United States Monitoring the Future Survey (MTF) are presented that show that European youth actually drink more and have more problematic drinking patterns than do their American counterparts. Findings are presented concerning the prevalence of youth drinking during the past 30 days, the prevalence of heavy drinking, and the prevalence of drinking to intoxication in the American and European samples. Figures, references