Grade-specific information about alcohol use is available at: www.AskHYS.net
2010 Healthy Youth Survey data
For two-sided, easy to use hand-outs about youth alcohol use in Washington State, go to: 2010 HYS Fact-Sheet for Washington State
County-level profiles are listed under Get Involved on the state map. Click on the county you're interested in and scroll down.
T-shirts and beer?
A recent study links alcohol-branded apparel and underage drinking. Teens who own merchandise promoting alcoholic beverages are more likely to start drinking and become binge drinkers. The study conducted by researchers at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center surveyed 6,522 youths aged 10 to 14 about their drinking behaviors and drinking susceptibility, including peer pressure and other indicators. The number of these adolescents who owned alcohol-branded merchandise ranged from 11 percent at the 8-month survey to 20 percent at the 24-month survey.
The most common products were clothing (64 percent), hats (24 percent) and other items such as jewelry, key chains, shot glasses, posters, and pens. Seventy-five percent of the brands featured were beer. The report is published in the March issue of the "Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine".
“Shoulder Tap” study shows young men likely to buy beer for minors
Research on the “shoulder tap” practice in which youths approach an adult outside an alcohol establishment and ask the adult to purchase alcohol for them found that:
- 8 percent of the adults were willing to purchase alcohol for youths who appear under 21, and
- 19 percent of young males were willing to purchase alcohol for underage youth.
The study, and recommendations to address this problem, appears in the July Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (Vol. 31(7), pp. 1218-1223).
Other research and resources for reducing underage drinking:
- The Marin Institute: http://www.marininstitute.org/
- Adults are most common source of alcohol for teens, according to poll of teens 13-18: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/15414.html
- Parents Underestimate Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use by Youth http://pridesurveys.com
- Environmental and Contextual Considerations: http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh283/155-162.htm
- Community and policy interventions:University of Minnesota Epidemiology Program: http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol/
- San Diego Policy Panel on Youth Access: http://www.alcoholpolicypanel.org/
- http://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/
- http://oas.samhsa.gov
- Surgeon General's Guide to Action for Communities
http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol - Alcopops: Most of these sweet-flavored drinks have a higher alcohol content than regular beer and wine, yet many teens believe the opposite. Research shows that 10% of young people now drink alcopops on a regular basis.
http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/files/20030818_151600_alcopops%20factsheet.pdf - Free online book: Reducing Underage Drinking – A Collective Responsibility
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10729.html
