A new study from the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation finds that initiation of heavy episodic drinking and intoxication were more likely to occur when close friends were present with an adolescent and when those close friends were also drinking.
The study, which examined the physical, social, and situational characteristics of initiation of first drink, first heavy episodic drinking, and first intoxication, was conducted via both a survey and in-depth interviews
Additional Key findings include:
- How available alcohol was at the time of initiation
- Privacy of location
A representative quote highlights the import of strong relationships to initiating drinking:
“One of them, he’s been my best friend since I was in the second grade. I’ve known him for eight years, and the other one, I had known for just a year but still pretty good friends… And I know one of my best friend’s brothers… I’ve grown up with him. And the parents, I’ve known them just as long as I’ve known my friend. About eight years I’ve known all of them. I was comfortable.”
Another quote illuminates the influence of easy access to alcohol:
“The fact that the hard liquor was present was probably prompting all of us to just try it, so it was not planned before, but it was sort of just sitting there.”
Notes lead author, Dr. Sabrina Islam, “ These findings suggest that a shift in focus toward moderating key contextual risks is needed to change adolescent choices to try alcohol. Adaptive interventions using emerging technologies that account for the dynamics of drinking contexts that confer differential risks may be a promising approach.”
Source: Islam, Sabrina, Emily Kaner, Jennifer Price-Wolf, Joel W. Grube, and Sharon Lipperman-Kreda. “Disentangling the Physical, Social, and Situational Contexts of Young Adolescents’ Initiation to Alcohol Use and Intoxication: A Mixed Methods Study.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence (2022): 109572. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037687162200309X
