Teenage drinking: What influences drinking habits?

It's a problem that has concerned society for as long as there have been teenagers. Many of us spent time in our teens sneaking drinks from a bottle of cider in the park or sampling the contents of our parents’ drinks cabinet when they were out. But what influences teenagers to drink to excess? And what, if anything, can be done about it?

Young people, alcohol and influences, out today, finds that it’s family and friends that have the most impact on a teenager’s likelihood of drinking and getting drunk. So it’s the people they have direct contact with – not what they see on TV or the celebrities they see falling out of clubs in magazines – who have the most influence.

For as long as there have been teenagers, there have also been concerned parents. When should you introduce your child to alcohol? How do you stop your teenager drinking too much? Do you try to intervene?

Well, today's report does offer a few suggestions.

• The odds of a teenager drinking to excess more than double if they spend more than two evenings a week with friends. Spending every evening with friends multiplies the odds of excessive drinking more than four times.
• It's also about parents’ own drinking habits. The odds of a teenager getting drunk often double if they have seen their parents drunk (even if only a few times) compared with teenagers who have never seen their parents drunk.
• Levels of parental supervision influence behaviour: for example, the odds of a teenager having ever had an alcoholic drink are greater if their parents do not know where they are on a Saturday evening or if they allow their child to watch 18-rated films unsupervised.
• Ease of access to alcohol was also an important influencing factor on current drinking and drunkenness. Maybe it's best to lock that drinks cabinet after all?!

Today's report does not answer all the questions that parents have, but the suggestions it does provide come directly from what young people are saying about how much they drink and why. You probably have more influence over your teenager than you think.