Understanding Risk for Underage Drinking

The findings of a recent study by researchers at Penn State underline the importance of community in curbing teen alcohol use. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, set out to examine how major risk and protective factors predicted youths' alcohol use. The results offer insights on the influence and interaction of these factors that can be used to inform preventative measures.
Utilizing five large data sets, the researchers analyzed information on more than 200,000 boys and girls in the 8th and 10th grades. While individual, family, and peer risk factors and a community protective factor were seen to moderately predict alcohol use, the relative impact of each factor differed depending on wider context.
The results demonstrated that antisocial attitudes and antisocial peers were not as strongly associated with alcohol use when positive community experiences were also reported. In other words, a caring community may help counteract risk factors for underage drinking. Among the conclusions drawn, the researchers report, “public health advocates should focus on context (e.g., community factors) as a strategy for curbing underage alcohol use.”
Future research can continue to fine-tune understandings of risk factors in different environments to improve prevention efforts. By pinpointing the most important predictors of adolescent substance use, not only can these findings help communities better identify at-risk youth, they can also direct prevention resources to where they are most effective—and needed.

Gabrielle Nygaard is a Digital and Social Media Intern at Prichard Communications, where she assists on several accounts, including Reclaiming Futures. She is a student at Linfield College studying Mass Communication and Japanese. She is an Oregon native and health enthusiast.
 
 
 
 
 
 *Photo at top by Flickr user Sarah Ross photography