Predictors of Early Alcohol Drinking Onset

Abstract

ABSTRACT Early alcohol drinking onset (ADO) has been implicated as a cause of adult alcohol disorder inviting interventions that target the causes of ADO. This study explores the precursors of early ADO using variables measured before drinking onset, reaching back to the mothers of the respondents. The sample consists of children of the women respondents in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (79) who were 11 or 12 and still not drinking in the baseline interviews and who were re-interviewed two years later (n = 1951). The risk of drinking onset by age 13 or 14 was higher for three distal predictors: if mothers began drinking at age 14 or younger, if the respondent is female, and if the respondent was high on the Headstrong dimension of the Behavior Problems Index measured before age 6. More proximal predictors (measured at baseline) included loneliness (negatively), living with mother only, older, multiple problem behaviors, and no adult home after school. Implications for research and prevention are discussed.