Differences in alcohol brand consumption between underage youth and adults-United States, 2012.
BACKGROUND
The alcohol brand preferences of US underage drinkers have recently been identified, but it is not known whether youth are simply mimicking adult brand choices or whether other factors are impacting their preferences. This study is the first to compare the alcohol brand preferences of underage drinkers and adults.


METHODS
The authors conducted a cross-sectional assessment of youth and adult alcohol brand preferences. A 2012 Internet-based survey of a nationally representative sample of 1032 underage drinkers, ages 13-20, was used to determine the prevalence of past-30-day consumption for each of 898 alcohol brands, and each brand's youth market share, based on the total number of standard drinks consumed. Data on the brand-specific prevalence of past-30-day or past-7-day consumption among older youth (ages 18-20), adults (ages 21+), and young adults (ages 21-34) was obtained from Gfk MRI's Survey of the Adult Consumer for the years 2010-2012. Overall market shares for each brand, also measured by the total number of standard drinks consumed, were estimated from national data compiled by Impact Databank for the year 2010.


RESULTS
Although most alcohol brands popular among underage drinkers were also popular among adult drinkers, there were several brands that appeared to be disproportionately consumed by youth.


CONCLUSIONS
This article provides preliminary evidence that youth do not merely mimic the alcohol brand choices of adults. Further research using data derived from fully comparable data sources is necessary to confirm this finding.
a Department of Community Health Sciences , Boston University School of Public Health , Boston , Massachusetts , USA.
Michael
M
Siegel
Kelsey
K
Chen
William
W
DeJong
Timothy S
TS
Naimi
Joshua
J
Ostroff
Craig S
CS
Ross
David H
DH
Jernigan
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000066608:Underage Drinking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
Adolescents; alcohol; alcohol brands; alcohol use; youth