Drinking behaviour tied to early alcohol use
Young adults are more likely to be heavy drinkers if they took their first drink of alcohol at an early age and also had to cope with stressful life events.
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Young adults are more likely to be heavy drinkers if they took theirfirst drink of alcohol at an early age and also had to cope withstressful life events.
It has long been known that an early beginning of alcohol useis associated with more drinking in general, and with more severeproblems resulting from this alcohol use. In addition, several studiesindicate that the association of an early age at first drink and thelater development of alcohol use disorders might be particularlyrelevant in the context of stressful life events. Both animal and humanresearch suggests that an early age at first drink may lead to greaterstress-induced drinking.
Researchers studied 166 women and 140 men in Germany toexamine possible interactions between age at first drink and stressfullife events, and whether these interactions would have an impact ondrinking patterns during young adulthood. The participants were askedabout when they started drinking, whether they'd encountered anystressful life events in the previous three years, what daily hasslesthey might have had in the previous months, and what their drinkingbehaviours were at age 22 years. Participants also provided detailsabout the amount of alcohol they consumed and how often they drank inthe month before they were questioned.
It was found that the impact of stressful life events ondrinking behaviour depended on the age at first drink. The earliest[age at first drink] in the study was 8 years; about half of the studyparticipants had initiated alcohol drinking before they were 14 yearsold. The earlier they started with alcohol use, the stronger was theassociation between life stress and drinking in young adults. Theresearchers found this interaction effect only for the variable 'totalamount of alcohol,' not for the number of drinking days and this fittedto the pattern of stress-related drinking, which is characterised by ahigher number of drinks, and not so much by frequent drinking.
It's likely that people who start drinking at a very youngage learn to use alcohol in stressful situations during adolescencebecause research indicates that, during adolescence, drinking isparticularly rewarding under stressful circumstances.
The researchers suggest that the primary aim of preventionprograms should be to raise the age of adolescents for having theirfirst real drinking occasion and it is very important to protract ageat first drink as long as possible in order to prevent heavy drinkingand alcohol use disorder.
It has long been known that an early beginning of alcohol useis associated with more drinking in general, and with more severeproblems resulting from this alcohol use. In addition, several studiesindicate that the association of an early age at first drink and thelater development of alcohol use disorders might be particularlyrelevant in the context of stressful life events. Both animal and humanresearch suggests that an early age at first drink may lead to greaterstress-induced drinking.
Researchers studied 166 women and 140 men in Germany toexamine possible interactions between age at first drink and stressfullife events, and whether these interactions would have an impact ondrinking patterns during young adulthood. The participants were askedabout when they started drinking, whether they'd encountered anystressful life events in the previous three years, what daily hasslesthey might have had in the previous months, and what their drinkingbehaviours were at age 22 years. Participants also provided detailsabout the amount of alcohol they consumed and how often they drank inthe month before they were questioned.
It was found that the impact of stressful life events ondrinking behaviour depended on the age at first drink. The earliest[age at first drink] in the study was 8 years; about half of the studyparticipants had initiated alcohol drinking before they were 14 yearsold. The earlier they started with alcohol use, the stronger was theassociation between life stress and drinking in young adults. Theresearchers found this interaction effect only for the variable 'totalamount of alcohol,' not for the number of drinking days and this fittedto the pattern of stress-related drinking, which is characterised by ahigher number of drinks, and not so much by frequent drinking.
It's likely that people who start drinking at a very youngage learn to use alcohol in stressful situations during adolescencebecause research indicates that, during adolescence, drinking isparticularly rewarding under stressful circumstances.
The researchers suggest that the primary aim of preventionprograms should be to raise the age of adolescents for having theirfirst real drinking occasion and it is very important to protract ageat first drink as long as possible in order to prevent heavy drinkingand alcohol use disorder.
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