The personal characteristics and life-style of the young drinker: the results of a survey of British adolescents.
It is argued that studying the drinking patterns of adolescents can add much to our understanding of alcohol use. The present paper hypothesises that heavy drinkers will be experiencing more stress than light, moderate or non-drinkers and that consequently, they will perceive themselves as doing worse in school and will report more conflict with their parents. It is predicted that heavy drinkers will have failed to learn norms controlling alcohol use. It is anticipated that social norms are learnt through controlled drinking in a family setting and thus it is predicted that heavy drinkers will be less likely to drink with their parents and more likely to drink with their peers, than other groups of drinkers. It is argued that heavy drinkers will be more involved in peer group activities and less concerned about their health, than light, moderate or non-drinkers. These hypotheses were tested in a survey of 10 579 British adolescents (5068 boys), and support was found for all but one of these hypothesis (i.e., the hypothesis that heavy drinkers would be less likely to drink with their parents than light or moderate drinkers).
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D012907:Smoking; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications; D006113:United Kingdom