The Alcohol-Related Psychosocial and Behavioral Risks of a Nationally Representative Sample of Adolescents

This study, a secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, used a representative sample of 7th‐ through 12th‐grade students enrolled in US public schools between April and December 1995. Data were collected in respondents' homes using trained interviewers. A subset of 4,485 adolescents aged 12–17 were surveyed with regard to alcohol‐use practices and related health‐risk behavior, interpersonal problems, and demographic characteristics. Results showed adolescent males as significantly more likely to drink at high risk than adolescent females. Among those who drank one or more times in the past year, older adolescents were significantly more likely to report high‐risk drinking than younger adolescents. Significantly more high‐risk adolescents reported having a hangover, vomiting, regretting a behavior, having trouble with parents, regretting a sexual activity, having dating problems, fighting, having trouble with friends, and experiencing school trouble than did low‐risk adolescents. These findings underscore the long‐range significance of a coordinated school health program; in particular, school health services, school health instruction, and school health environment. Implications for school‐based and community‐based prevention and intervention programs are presented.