title: The prospective association between sipping alcohol by the sixth grade and later substance use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although there is a clear association between early use of alcohol and short- and long-term adverse outcomes, it is unclear whether consumption of minor amounts of alcohol (less than a full drink) at a young age is prognostic of risk behaviors in later adolescence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were taken from 561 students enrolled in an ongoing prospective web-based study on alcohol initiation and progression (55% female; 25% White non-Hispanic). Based on a combination of monthly and semiannual surveys, we coded whether participants sipped alcohol before sixth grade and examined associations between early sipping and alcohol consumption by fall of ninth grade, as well as other indices of problem behavior. Participants also reported on the context of the first sipping event.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of sipping alcohol by fall of sixth grade was 29.5%. Most participants indicated that their first sip took place at their own home, and the primary source of alcohol was an adult, usually a parent. Youth who sipped alcohol by sixth grade had significantly greater odds of consuming a full drink, getting drunk, and drinking heavily by ninth grade than nonsippers. These associations held even when we controlled for temperamental, behavioral, and environmental factors that contribute to proneness for problem behavior, which suggests that sipping is not simply a marker of underlying risk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings that early sipping is associated with elevated odds of risky behaviors at high school entry dispute the idea of sipping as a protective factor. Offering even just a sip of alcohol may undermine messages about the unacceptability of alcohol consumption for youth.
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Kristina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Nancy P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Colby
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*