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Sunday, January 27, 2008

Surveillance Report #81
Trends in Underage Drinking in the United States, 1991-2005

October 2007

This surveillance report, prepared by the Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System (AEDS), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), presents data on underage drinking for 1991–2005. This is the second of a series of reports to be published every two years on underage drinking and related attitudes and risk behaviors. Data for this series are compiled from three separate nationally representative surveys: the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The following are highlights of trends from 1991 through 2005.

Prevalence of use

  • Although there are marked differences in absolute values of estimates, and estimates show different patterns of increase and decrease over the time period evaluated, the trends across all three survey data sources show an overall decline in the prevalence of alcohol consumption in the past 30 days between 1991 and 2005. In 2005 28.3 percent of youth ages 12–20 reported consuming alcohol in the past 30 days (NSDUH).

  • Throughout the decade, rates of underage drinking remained highest among non-Hispanic whites, followed by Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks. Rates were also higher among youth not enrolled in school as compared with those enrolled in school (NSDUH), although rates among college students remained higher than among non-college students (not shown).

Drinking patterns

  • The mean age of initiation of drinking alcohol has increased slightly from 13.8 years in 1991 to 14.2 years in 2005 (NSDUH). In addition, there is a gradual decline over the decade in the proportion of youth reporting initiating drinking at age 12 years or younger, although this trend may be leveling off, particularly among females (NSDUH, YRBS).

  • Over the course of the decade, males have maintained higher average frequency, quantity, and volume of consumption in the past 30 days than females. In 2005, youth ages 12–20 reported drinking on a mean of 5.9 days in the past 30 days. They consumed an average of 4.9 drinks on these days, corresponding to an average total of 35.3 drinks in the past 30 days (NSDUH).

  • According to NSDUH, overall rates of binge drinking have increased among 12- to 20-year-olds between 1991 and 2005, from 15.2 to 18.6 percent. Data from the secondary school–based surveys (MTF and YRBS), however, show an overall decline in binge drinking rates during this time period. Although rates increased for both males and females in the NSDUH data, the increase is steeper for females than for males.

Alcohol-related attitudes

  • The trends for alcohol-related attitudes show a gradual shift in youth attitudes towards underage drinking, with a decrease between 1991 and 2005 in the percentage of youth strongly disapproving of others regularly consuming alcohol or binge drinking, and a decrease in the percentage of those who consider regular or binge drinking a great risk (MTF). Recent data indicate these trends may be reversing.

Alcohol-related risk behaviors

  • Between 1991 and 2005 trends from the YRBS show a decline in the prevalence of secondary school youth driving while under the influence of alcohol, whereas NSDUH data trends show an increase in prevalence. The difference is due to the large increase in rates among 18- to 20-year-olds—from 14.9 to 18.3 percent—whereas rates among younger youth remained relatively stable (NSDUH). Declines in prevalence since 2003 in NSDUH data may indicate the beginning of a downward trend.


Read Full Report (PDF)

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