Teen drinking linked to future abuse problems

Young people who drink weekly before they turn 17 are three times more likely to binge drink, drink drive, be alcoholdependent, and use other drugs than their non-drinking peers, new research says.

And if they drink at least once a week from age 13 they were more than twice as likely as their peers to binge drink, drink drive and have other booze-related problems as adults, the just-published study says.

Researchers from the University of Otago’s Christchurch Health and Development Study played a role in the study of 9000 New Zealanders and Australians aged from 13 to 30. The results have been published in the international journal Addiction.

Their work provides the most robust evidence to date on the causal relationship between adolescent drinking, substance abuse and alcohol problems in adulthood, the university said in a statement on Wednesday.

It has also thrown a renewed focus on law and policy reform, including the push to increase the minimum purchase age and the often ready availability of alcohol in many parts of New Zealand.

The study found frequent early drinking, as well as early binge and problem drinking, was a good predictor of future problems with alcohol.

Drinking at least once a week was linked to later problems.

The study also found drinking at least weekly before the age of 17 also increased the risk of smoking cigarettes in adulthood by 60 per cent.

Drinking at least weekly also increased typical alcohol consumption during adulthood by about 80 per cent compared to people who did not drink before turning 17.

One of the study’s authors, Associate Professor Joe Boden of the University of

It has also thrown a renewed focus on law and policy reform, including the push to increase the minimum purchase age and the often ready availability of alcohol.

Otago, Christchurch, said the findings suggested delaying when teens start drinking regularly could have significant benefits. Public health messages should focus on curbing frequency as well as the amounts people consume, he said.

The research also highlighted several areas for possible reform, in particular proposals to increase the minimum purchase age and reducing the ‘‘anytime, anywhere’’ availability of alcohol in many areas, he said.

A surprising finding was that there was no direct association between adolescent drinking and negative psycho-social outcomes such as sexual risk taking, early parenthood and mental health problems, he said.