Dr. Michael French and his colleagues used four waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to study patterns of alcohol use and crime from adolescence to early adulthood. They found alcohol may be as important a risk factor as drugs for criminal involvement.

“This issue is extremely important because adolescents who are criminally active are significantly more likely to be adult criminals,” Dr. French said. “Although adolescents often commit less serious crimes than adults – for example, vandalism and shoplifting – these behaviors can quickly escalate into a criminally active lifestyle without effective interventions. Understanding how alcohol use among adolescents may contribute to criminal activity is therefore a logical policy and relevant area for research.”

“… Educators, parents, clinicians, and others who interact with adolescents can use these findings as an incentive to be vigilant about underage alcohol use as this behavior could be linked with current criminal activities or at least a precursor to future illegal acts,” he said. “Early intervention is probably the best defense in this case.”

This article was published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Teenage alcohol abuse is a national public health problem. People under age 20 years old consume over 11% of all alcohol in the United States, even though in most states it is illegal for them to drink. According to 2009 statistics compiled by the federal government, in any month 42% of high school students report drinking at least once; 24% drank at least four drinks in a row; 10% operated an automobile after consuming alcohol; and 28% were passengers in a car driven by someone who had consumed alcohol.

While the connection between alcohol use and criminal activity (including victimization) has been studied and documented among adults, there has been little exploration of the relationship between alcohol use and crime among adolescents. A new study published in the March 2012 edition of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research provides insight into how the two factors interact.

Corresponding author Michael T. French is a professor of health economics from the University of Miami. French and colleagues found that there was a strong connection between alcohol use and both the commission of crimes and victimization, and the pattern was consistent in male and female participants.

French explained that the information provided by the study is helpful because those who commit lesser crimes in adolescence, such as shoplifting, are much more likely than other individuals to become criminals as adults. In the past, says French, research has focused on the connection between illicit drugs and criminal activity, but the new findings provide more information for effective intervention.

The research team used data from four time periods of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, one of the few sources for longitudinal data on alcohol consumption and criminal acts.

In their analysis of the data, the researchers hoped to answer a few key questions, such as whether alcohol consumption can have an effect on whether a person becomes a victim or a perpetrator involved in a crime. They also questioned more specific aspects, like whether alcohol consumption has a more significant effect when it comes to property crimes versus other types of crime. The researchers also wanted to know if the effects were the same for males and females, and whether frequency or severity of alcohol use affected the outcomes.

The researchers found that across both genders, there was a connection between more frequent alcohol use and a greater likelihood of a property crime being committed. In addition, with more frequent alcohol use, an individual was also more likely to both be a perpetrator and a victim of a predatory crime. The researchers reported that though the relationship pattern discovered was not a surprise, the strength of the connection was more significant than predicted.

This practice was twice as frequent in young women, compared to males in the study. The percentages were 25% of the women and 11% of the men in the survey admitted to preserving calories in order to drink alcoholic beverages. The reasons given for this behavior were to maintain body weight and that restricting food intake means you can get drunk faster. Some students said they could not afford to pay for both food and alcoholic beverages, so they had to make a choice.

Prof. Victoria Osborne, who performed the survey of 1,000 students, said that "depriving the brain of adequate nutrition and consuming large amounts of alcohol can be dangerous. Together they cause short- and long-term cognitive problems including difficulty concentrating, studying and making decisions."

She said that many researchers have noted a new phenomenon they call "drunkorexia," which is a combination of disordered eating habits and heavy alcohol consumption. The behavior puts people at risk for more serious eating disorders, as well as alcoholism. They are more at risk for alcohol poisoning, substance abuse, chronic diseases later in life, violence, and sexual assault.

Prof. Osborne believes that women in particular are at higher risk for such problems because they metabolize alcohol differently than men do, requiring fewer drinks to get drunk, and to develop health problems. Dr. Osbourne presented this study at the Research Society on Alcoholism, and published it in the journal Alcoholism.

Statistics from the National Institute of Health and the National Eating Disorders Association indicate that about ten million women and one million men have eating disorders, and the majority of them are young people. One 2009 study found that almost 20% of college students admit to disordered eating patterns.

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh examined the ways in which teens are exposed to references regarding alcohol in popular music, specifically rap, hip hop and R&B music. The findings are published in the journal Addiction.

The study discovered that the average American teen is exposed on a regular basis to alcohol brand names, with those references tucked into the lyrics of popular music. When alcohol is mentioned in a song, it is often in association with wealth, violence, partying and sexual activity.

The researchers analyzed 793 of the most frequently played songs between 2005 and 2007. They found that approximately 25 percent of the songs that contain a reference to alcohol also mention alcohol by brand name. This equates to about 3.4 references to alcohol brands in one song-hour. Previous research has shown that the average teenager listens to about 2.5 hours of music each day. This means that on any given day, teens are exposed to alcohol brand names many times.

The analysis also showed that the references to alcohol in the music were more often associated with a positive consequence than a negative one. Alcohol references were paired with wealth at a rate of 63.4 percent, luxury objects at a rate of 51.2 percent, other drugs at a rate of 43.9 percent, sex at a rate of 58.5 percent and partying at a rate of 48.8 percent.

The researchers write that the practice of including specific brand name references in songs may be defined as a type of advertising, which may be influential in teens’ decisions about the initiation of use of alcohol and subsequent drinking. Because the songs typically associate alcohol with positive consequences, it achieves the same goal sought in advertising. Further, the brands most often mentioned in popular music are becoming more often reported by underage drinkers to be their favorite brands.

The authors of the study also believe that there may be an increasing incentive to mention alcohol brands in music because there are increasingly ties between the alcohol and music industries. For instance, Seagram’s owned Universal and Polygram for the years 1995 to 2001, and several artists have created their own alcohol brands. Ludacris markets Conjure Vodka, created in 2009 and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs introduced Ciroc Vodka in 2001.

While references to alcohol in music are generally not solicited by alcohol advertising companies, there have been instances in which a reference in a popular song has led to a formal endorsement by a music celebrity. In one instance, a song by Busta Rhymes and P. Diddy was called "Pass the Courvoisier" and resulted in an 18.9 percent increase in sales. The music artists’ management company, Violator, was soon after approached by Courvisier’s parent company to develop a promotional plan.

According to the Explorer Newspaper, a recent survey done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 90 percent of binge drinking is done by teenagers. By age 18, over 70 percent of teenagers have had at least some type of alcoholic drink.

Some parents believe that letting their teens consume at home is actually safer than worrying about them drinking at other places and then driving. But how can they control what happens after teens leave their home? Are they really monitoring their kids every second? Not to mention this practice is against the law.

Fire Captain Adam Goldberg says teen binge drinking 911 calls are becoming far too common. Teens are passing out at parties or found abandoned on front porches of their homes because friends are too scared of the consequences and hide the truth about what really happened. Parents, paramedics and ER doctors have no idea how much or what type of alcohol was consumed and they are involved in a "guessing" game of how to treat the patient.

Goldberg understands a parent wanting to keep their child safe, but he vehemently disagrees with the idea of allowing kids who are underage to drink at all, under any circumstances. One of the largest problems with binge drinking is that a vast percentage of these teenagers become repeat offenders who then go on to abuse other types of illicit substances.

Dr. Susan Tapert studied 27 boys and 13 girls who binge drink, and then compared the results of tests of their spatial working memories with 31 non-drinking males and 24 non-drinking females. Binge-drinking is defined as five drinks in a row in one sitting for boys, and four drinks for girls, and people usually do it for the sole purpose of getting drunk. Working memory refers to using information that is stored in the mind, as opposed to information that is seen or heard. Working memory is critical to thinking and reasoning.

The binge drinkers in the study had less brain activation compared to the non-drinkers, and girls were especially affected.

"Long after a young person -middle school to college- enjoys acute recovery from a hang-over, this study shows that the risk to cognitive and brain functions endures," said Dr. Edith Sullivan of Stanford University.

Dr. Tapert surmised that girls were more likely to experience problems with alcohol because their brains develop earlier and they metabolize alcohol differently than boys do.

The majority of females need fewer drinks to achieve the same levels of intoxication as males, and they get drunk more quickly. They can become alcoholics more quickly than men do, even when they drink less heavily. Previous studies from Germany have found that women can lose the same amount of brain tissue as men who had been drinking less heavily and over a longer period of time. The main reason for these discrepancies is that a woman’s body has more fatty tissue and less water than the male’s, and hormonal differences could also affect how alcohol affects the female brain.

This study appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
 

Many parents decide the best thing to do is host the party and provide the alcohol, that way the kids are under their watch and supervision. Although they think they can keep the kids safe, and off the road, they still choose to drive. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2001, 2,950 children under the age of 21 died in alcohol related accidents, 1,012 died during the months of April, May and June, which are all around the time of graduation and prom.

According to Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), car accidents are the leading cause of fatalities among teenagers. Approximately 36 percent of accidents were alcohol related when the driver was between the ages of 15-21. Teenagers who are also distracted when they drive, are growing in death related accidents.

Not only are their huge risks with drinking and driving, but underage drinking also comes with many more risks. It can also hinder brain development. According to a study done by the National Institutes of Health, underage drinking has been shown to inhibit judgment, which can lead to dangerous behavior. Physical, emotional and sexual violence also increases when teens drink alcohol.

SADD has been trying to make teens more aware of the affects of drinking and driving. In doing so, they have come up with a few ways for teens to be safe during graduation and prom seasons, and how parents can help keep their kids safe. Some tips include parent and teen communication regularly about drugs and alcohol, discussing expectations with your children about their outings, parents should get involved with supervision of special events, hotel rooms should not be rented for teenagers, parents should stay awake until their teen gets home and parents should never provide drugs or alcohol to teenagers and their friends.

It is important to remain focused on the fight against underage drinking, especially during prom season and graduation. If an open relationship is kept between the parent and teenager, it is shown to have made a difference in preventing drunk driving. People who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become dependent on alcohol, than those who wait until age 21. Take the time to make sure your teenager is safe; don’t be another statistic.

Even more alarming, says Elyse Singer in a West Hartford News article, is that teens seem to believe that binge drinking episodes are normal, expected and harmless. Singer is part of the Community Action Research Team project, West Hartford, Conn., a yearlong initiative to study teen trends around alcohol.

Others involved in the project say it’s difficult to pinpoint where or how teens are getting the message that binge drinking is normal or harmless, but believe it’s linked to media messages, online videos and advertising of products that promote a fast intoxication. Consequences from binge drinking can include a higher chance for alcohol addiction, dangerous driving decisions or unprotected sex, as well as organ damage to the liver and kidneys. Alcohol poisoning is also increasing and sending more teens to emergency rooms nationwide.

Teens and young adults interviewed in the Community Action Research Team project said they drink to boost self-esteem; to escalate their levels of enjoyment when spending time with friends; and to manage life stressors or negative emotions. As competition for high school grades, scholarships and athletic recognition mounts, more students may be turning to alcohol to escape, say the researchers.

Binge drinking seemed to be participated in by more Caucasian students than from other groups in the West Hartford study, and they were typically in the middle to upper social classes. The trend, say researchers, is similar across other U.S. communities.

Most of the teens in the study who were binge drinking were consuming hard alcohol they acquired from their homes. Singer and fellow researchers are urging parents to set clear expectations for their teen and to help them find activities that don’t involve alcohol.

The implications of this new reality are slowly being discovered. While social networking sites provide many opportunities, both personal and professional, there may be other types of consequences associated with excessive time spent on the sites. Illustrating this point is a recent study that showed evidence for a connection between alcohol consumption and computer use.

The teens that drank alcohol were found to spend more time on their computers, including visiting social sites and music-related activities compared with their peers who do not consume alcohol.

The anonymous survey asked 264 teenagers to report on their behaviors, and the results were published in the journal Addictive Behaviors. The research was led by Dr. Jennifer Epstein, assistant professor and public health researcher at Weill Cornell Medical College.

The survey was issued to participants aged 13 to 17 years who were all residents within the United States. The results of the analysis showed that teens who reported consuming alcohol in the last month also reported using a computer more hours each week than those who did not drink. The participants who drank alcohol spent time on social networking sites and downloading and listening to music.

There was no connection found, however, between drinking alcohol and hours logged on the computer for schoolwork. There was also no connection found between video games and drinking or online shopping and drinking.

Dr. Epstein explains that the specific factors that associate teenage drinking and computer use have not yet been explored. It may be that teens both enter a time of exploration of the Internet and also a time of exploration of alcohol during adolescence. In addition, alcohol advertising and alcohol-using contacts on social networking sites may increase the likelihood that a teen might drink.

The study’s results highlight the need for parents to carefully monitor teenage computer use. Dr. Epstein said that while about half of parents install filters on their computers to block objectionable content, there are many parents who do not use any monitoring, especially when it comes to older teens.

Further research is necessary to determine the level of drinking associated with computer use and possible factors causing computer use to be associated with drinking alcohol during teen years.

A recent review of studies examining the effectiveness of school-based programs may encourage additional funding from the government. The large, international systematic review looked at 41 studies in North America, six in Europe and six in Australia, one in India and one in Swaziland. Two additional studies were conducted in multiple locations.

The review of the studies showed that the programs showed significant results in some areas, including episodes of drunkenness and binge drinking. This information is contrary to what many studies have shown that the school-based approach is not always effective.

David Foxcroft of Oxford Brookes University in England was the lead author for the review. Foxcroft explained that according to the analysis, school programs that use a social skills-focused curriculum or that are based on improving classroom behavior often work to reduce alcohol problems in young people.

Co-author Alexander Tsertsvadze of the University of Ottawa Evidence-Based Practice Center worked with Foxcroft to analyze the 53 randomized controlled trials conducted in a wide range of countries. The participants were all aged 5 to 18 when the studies were initiated.

The analysis included a large number of studies that targeted risky behaviors like drinking, smoking and drug abuse. The other studies assessed alcohol-specific programs.

The researchers examined the drinking habits of those who took part in the various types of programs and compared them with students who did not take part in any type of prevention program.

The analysis revealed evidence that supported the endorsement of certain types of generic prevention programs in favor of alcohol-specific programs. The authors specifically mentioned the Life Skills Training Program, the Unplugged Program and the Good Behavior Game as curriculum that resulted in effective interventions.

The findings of the review are published in the May 2011 issue of The Cochrane Library, which publishes findings of systematic reviews such as the analysis of school-based programs.

The findings of the study are important because they may impact how funding is issued to school-based programs. The cost of implementing school programs may seem daunting to policymakers, but considering the public health cost of alcohol abuse and related problems, it may be a very cost-effective way to prevent alcohol use in teenagers.