Adolescent Drinking: Environmental Considerations

by National Institute of Health

A number of environmental factors can influence an adolescent's risk for drinking, including parenting styles, an adolescent's choice of peer groups, and even whether he or she is active in after-school activities. Alcohol advertising, the price of alcohol, and the degree to which underage drinking laws are enforced also play a role. It is difficult to establish the degree to which alcohol use is influenced by environmental factors. This article describes some of the environmental influences that may increase the risk for underage drinking.

The spectrum of environmental factors that can influence an adolescent's drinking ranges from parents and family to the community at large and includes the availability, price, and advertising of alcohol. For a variety of reasons, measuring the impact of an environmental feature on drinking in a young person can be a challenge. Research has found, for example, that adolescents with supportive parents who monitor their children's activities are less likely to be involved in risky behaviors than adolescents with less attentive parents. At the same time, genetic influences on personality can influence parenting styles as well as choice of peer groups and involvement in activities. Innate traits may help prompt an adolescent to, for example, choose a peer group inclined to risky behavior; however, that peer group is itself an environmental factor that encourages risky activity. One goal of research is to be able to provide an understanding of the interactions of genetics vs. environmental factors and their relative contributions to risky behavior.

On a larger scale, alcohol advertising is pervasive in this culture, and much of it is presented in ways that appeal to youth. Some research suggests an association between adolescents' reactions to alcohol advertising and their desire or intention to drink. Results have been mixed, however, in studies aimed at establishing whether alcohol advertising actually causes youth to drink.

In contrast, most studies looking at the impact of alcohol price or tax changes on youth have found that young people's alcohol consumption drops significantly in response to tax and price increases. Other research has examined the effects of alcohol prices or taxes on the harmful consequences of drinking; most studies looking at traffic fatalities have found that higher prices and taxes are associated with reductions in traffic crash fatalities among younger drivers.

All States now have laws making it illegal to sell alcohol to people younger than age 21. Numerous studies have established the effectiveness of underage drinking laws in reducing both drinking and alcohol-related crashes among people under age 21. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that a legal drinking age of 21 saves 700 to 1,000 lives annually. All 50 States now also have zero-tolerance laws, which make it illegal for people younger than age 21 to drive after any drinking. These laws also have contributed to declines in alcohol-related traffic deaths among those younger than age 21. For a number of reasons, zero-tolerance laws have not been vigorously enforced. This lack of vigorous enforcement occurs in spite of evidence from studies done before universal adoption of zero-tolerance laws indicating that States instituting these laws saw substantial declines in the proportion of people younger than age 21 who drove after any drinking.

Parents, Peers, and Community Influences

Parenting styles, choice of peer group, and the community context in which adolescents are raised have all been heavily researched as possible risk-promoting or protective influences on drinking-related outcomes. As might be anticipated, numerous studies have found that children with loving, supportive, and involved parents had better developmental outcomes and were less likely to use alcohol than children raised in less supportive homes. Parental support encompassed monitoring their children's activities while supporting their independence and setting limits.

However, although parents' awareness of their children's activities is certainly important, as is controlling their whereabouts, the source of parents' information about what their children are doing also is critical. Research suggests that facilitating children's willingness to share information about their lives may be associated with better outcomes.

Parents who drank more and who held favorable views about drinking had offspring who drank more. Similarly, adolescents who spent more time with peers who consumed alcohol were more likely to drink.

Although it is tempting to conclude that the variables noted above truly have a causal influence on drinking, the evidence at this point does not establish a causal or mediational influence. Because we know that genetic risk for alcohol use patterns can manifest itself through personality variables, and that these same personality variables can influence parenting styles, choice of peer groups, and even engagement in after-school programs, it is difficult to establish the degree to which alcohol use is influenced independently by parents, peers, and environment. These questions must be pursued using genetically informed research designs and by experiments in which these variables are manipulated independently of genetic factors.

About the Author

NIH is the nation's medical research agency - making important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.