Variables Associated With Adolescent Alcohol Use: A Multiethnic Comparison

• Published in: The Journal of social psychology Vol. 140; no. 1; pp. 51 - 62
• Main Authors: Parker, Keith D., Calhoun, Thomas, Weaver, Greg
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Taylor & Francis Group 01-02-2000; Heldref; Clark University Press; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - ethnology; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Alcohol Abuse; Alcohol consumption; Alcohol Drinking - ethnology; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Alcohol Education; Alcohol use; Alcoholism; Biological and medical sciences; Black Students; Black White Differences; Child; Community Influence; Comparative Analysis; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Demography; Drinking; Drinking Behavior; Drug abuse; Ethnic Groups - psychology; Extracurricular activities; Family Characteristics; Fathers; Female; Gender differences; High School Students; Higher Education; Hispanic American Students; Hispanic Americans; Households; Humans; Influences; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Minority & ethnic groups; National Surveys; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Race; Racial Differences; Rural areas; Secondary school students; Secondary schools; Sex; Sociodemographic aspects; Sociodemographic Characteristics; Sociodemographics; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic Status; Student Characteristics; Teenagers; United States - epidemiology; White people; White Students; Whites; Young people; United States; North America; America; Human; Consumption; Social environment; Alcoholic beverage; Sociodemographic factor; Cultural environment; Adolescent; Negroid; Black American; Caucasoid; Latinamerican; Ethnic group
• ISSN: 0022-4545; 1940-1183
• DOI: 10.1080/00224540009600445

The authors examined the influence of sociodemographic variables on the frequency and intensity of alcohol use among a nationally representative sample of Black, Hispanic, and White adolescents who had participated in the 1991 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1993). The sample consisted of 8,756 U.S. adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. The authors found that (a) approximately 19% of the respondents had used alcohol in the last 30 days; (b) among the respondents who had used alcohol, 21% had consumed 1 or more drinks per drinking episode; and (c) there were important similarities as well as important differences in variables that promoted alcohol use among Black, Hispanic, and White adolescents.