title: Young people and drinking: results of an English national survey.
abstract: An account is presented of a survey of self-reported drinking habits and beliefs about alcohol amongst a national sample of teenagers in England. Fieldwork was conducted during 1988 and 1989 and involved 27 systematically selected state secondary (high) schools. Respondents were virtually all aged 14-16. The majority of teenagers reported drinking only moderate amounts of alcohol. Even so, a third of the males and nearly a fifth of the females reported having at some time consumed the equivalent of five and a half pints of beer on a single occasion. Factual knowledge about alcohol was not high and more than half of the study group supported a reduction in the legal minimum age at which alcohol may be purchased in licensed premises.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Plant
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bagnall
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sales
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001290:Attitude; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010379:Peer Group; D012931:Social Environment