Alcohol use and intimate relationships in adolescence: when love comes to town.
The associations between alcohol consumption and intimate relationships in adolescence were examined. Data from a longitudinal study of 1,063 adolescents were used to investigate whether (a) alcohol use was a precursor of partnership and (b) adolescents tended to change their drinking habits once they became involved in a steady relationship. Youngsters who consumed alcohol at the ages of 14 and 15 were more likely to be involved in an intimate relationship 3 years later. Drinking in social settings particularly increased the likelihood of having a partner 3 years later. In addition, for males, partnership was associated with a smaller increase in alcohol consumption in public drinking places compared to the other categories (i.e., adolescents who never had a partner vs. adolescents who had no partner at the time of measurement). In contrast, the increase in consumption at home was the strongest for young men involved in a steady relationship. For females, the differences in changes in consumption between the partnership categories were in most cases not significant.
Engels
R C
RC
Department of Childhood and Adolescence, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. R.Engels@FSS.UU.NL
Knibbe
R A
RA
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008149:Love; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors