Harvard University professors have devised a simple test for teenagers to determine if their drinking or drug use is out of control.

The "CRAFT" test looks like this:

C (CAR) - have you ever driven a car after using drugs or alcohol? Have you ever been a passenger in a car driven by someone who had used drugs and alcohol?

R (RELAX) - Do you use a alcohol or drugs to feel better about yourself, to fit in, or to relax?

A (ALONE) - Do you use substances like drugs or alcohol by yourself?

F (FORGET) - After you used drugs or alcohol, do you ever forget what you did?

T (TROUBLE) - After you used drugs or alcohol, have you ever gotten into trouble?

Teens who answered yes to two or more questions either have or are at risk for developing a substance abuse problem. These teens (or someone who cares about them) would be wise to investigate options for the treatment of teen substance abuse issues.

Labels: teenage_drinking, teen_drug_use

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After British researchers surveyed 23,000 people age 11 to 15 years old about their drinking habits, they became uncertain if their results were valid.

In some parts of Britain, the level of alcohol abuse among young people was stunning -- with one in four children telling researchers that they drank an average of nine pints of beer or one and a half bottles of wine every week. That was an average, with many children claiming to drink even more.

It is possible that many who responded to the survey exaggerated the amounts of alcohol consumed.

Despite the large numbers who reported getting drunk on a regular basis , the study actually showed a decline in binge drinking from 55 to 52 percent in two years. Girls drank just as often as boys, but the boys tended to consume greater amounts. The most drinking tended to occur in rural areas.

"Regular consumption at these levels puts boys and girls at considerable risk that extends beyond the usual considerations around accidents and injury through violence," according to the report from NHS Information Center. "At this stage, the adolescent mind is still developing, and for an unlucky minority, heavy drinking at so early an age will have profound and long-lasting implications for their learning and problem solving skills."

Labels: teenage_drinking, alcohol_abuse, adolescence, great britain

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Teens who get drunk often or who use marijuana on a regular basis are more likely to be sexually active, according to a new study from Canada. The same study also found that sexually active girls are at higher risk for attempted suicide.

• Researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth.
• They found that teens who use pot are 60 percent more likely to be sexually active.
• Teen who are regular drinkers are 50 percent more likely to be sexually active.

"Teens who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior," said Peter John Mitchell, a member of the research team. "This study reveals a risk profile that may help parents as they nurture their teens to adulthood."

Labels: teenage_drinking, teen_drug_use, marijuana, sex, teens

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A new study of risky behavior among Alaskan teenagers was released this week. In it, surveyors found high instances of both drug and alcohol abuse.

"In spring 2009, the Alaska Department of Health and Human Services surveyed 1,373 students from 43 high schools that were scientifically selected to represent all public high schools in Alaska, Patricia Owen, state coordinator for the survey," said in a report by Alaska's KTVA Channel 11.

The survey found that 45 percent of students believe regular marijuana use is not harmful, KTVA reported. More than 20 percent of students said theyd taken prescription drugs that were prescribed to someone else.

Labels: teenage_drinking, teen_drug_use, alcohol_abuse, drug_abuse, alaska

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The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has found that nearly half of the states high school students report using alcohol on a regular basis.

According to a Sept. 17 article by Robert Levey of the website Seacoast Online, this news about the prevalence of teen substance abuse shocked many and compelled some to act:

With studies showing New Hampshire youth possess some of the highest rates of alcohol and drug use nationally, New Heights, the Community Diversion Program, and Portsmouth High School Student Assistant Program have formed the Portsmouth Reflections Program.

Noting the goal of the Portsmouth Reflections Program, or PRP, is to improve long-term outcomes for teens age 14 to 18, including those with substance abuse issues and other high-risk behaviors, Marci Albert, student assistance counselor at PHS, said the program is comprehensive by design.

As noted by the (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), To have the most positive impact on adolescent health, government agencies, community organizations, schools and other community members must work together, she said.

Labels: prevention, teenage_drinking, teen_drug_use

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In the past eight years, hospitals in New South Wales, Australia has seen a 50 percent increase in people needing treatment for alcohol-related issues.

"The surge in extremely drunk and ill or injured patients is made up mostly of the young, and research also shows how this rise mirrors the trend in consumption of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages known as alcopops," Australian news website News.com.au reported.

The biggest rise occurred between 2005 and 2008, when acute alcohol problems rose from 110 to nearly 150 per 100,000 people, the site reported, and the sharpest increase was among 18-24 year olds.

Experts worry that the surge of problems related to alcohol abuse by teens and young adults will lead to higher rates of long-term issues involving alcohol abuse and addiction.

Labels: teenage_drinking, alcohol_abuse, young_adults

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A study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has documented a strong relationship between teen drinking and behavior problems:

• Researchers surveyed 9,000 people ages 13 to 19 years old.
• They found that 80 percent had tried drinking alcohol and 29 percent had been drunk more than 10 times in their lives.
• The boys who drank were more likely to have behavioral problems and the girls who drank reported both behavioral problems and depression.
• Forty-three percent of students who had behavioral problems also reported being drunk more than 10 times in their lives.

The authors emphasized that their findings do not mean that drinking causes behavioral problems, only that there is an increased likelihood that teens who drink also have behavioral problems.

Labels: teenage_drinking, behaviors

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Students at Rodriguez High School in Vacaville, California, who are caught drinking have something more than detention to look forward to. Instructor Shanti Hendderson -- who has first-hand knowledge of the devastation that can result from teen alcohol abuse -- has started a program aimed at teaching teens the dangers of alcohol use.

The purpose, [Henderson] said, is to provide a comfortable environment where students can discuss and analyze their problem. ...

Hendderson doesn't just talk from a book. She knows from first hand-experience how alcohol hurts. "In my senior year of high school, I was in a car accident with my best friend and her boyfriend. I was the only survivor," she said. (Source: The Reporter)

Today, Henderson uses her experience as a means of educating students. They learn about the effects alcohol has on the body and mind, and about possible genetic predispositions to alcohol abuse and alcoholism.

Labels: high school, teenage_drinking, alcohol_abuse

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Every parent of a teenager is likely aware of the saying that "actions speak louder than words." This is true of issues ranging from the way to you speak to your spouse to your attitude toward alcohol.

As pointed out in a June 26 article by the Maine organization Healthy Communities of the Capital Area, certain attitudes and behaviors of adults that may make alcohol more appealing to a teen.

"These actions are ones that many parents engage in," the organization reported, and while it may not be our intent to encourage underage drinking, some of these actions and behaviors may do just that":

• Making lighthearted or joking comments about other people's heavy drinking.
  
• Wearing T-shirts, baseball caps, etc. that advertise or promote drinking and/or specific brands of alcohol.
  
• Offering alcohol to your teen as a "special treat" for celebrations or family gatherings.
  
• Telling funny or glorified stories about you or your friends' drinking antics when you were younger.
  
• Watching television with your child, and laughing at scenes where alcohol is being abused.

Taken on their own, each of these behaviors may seem harmless to you. But when your children watch you say and do these things, they may get the idea that drinking alcohol is not only acceptable, but even expected.

Make sure that youre modeling the type of behavior you would want to see in your own kids.

Labels: teenage_drinking, parental_involvement

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The end of school has arrived for almost all U.S. students, and many are eager to take advantage of the lazy, hazy days of summer.

However, in addition to encouraging sloth-like behavior, summer is also the time of year when less supervision and more free time can prompt some young people to engage in dangerous behaviors such as drinking and the abuse of other drugs.

"There are ways to help prevent the incidences of underage drinking," Dale Cameron-Kody, the community wellness coordinator for Pittsford, N.Y., said in a June 16 article on the Democrat and Chronicle website. "Ask a lot of questions of your child. 'Where are you going? Who are you going with? Are you staying in one place or driving around? Do I have to worry about alcohol and drugs tonight?'"

If your child is going to a party at a friends house, call the parents that are hosting the party. Make sure they'll be home and that alcohol is not being served.

Labels: prevention, teenage_drinking, summer

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Sun Street Centers Parents Creating Solutions is an organization with a simple message: Don't supply teens with alcohol. According to a June 5 article by David Nordstrand of The Californian, the organization was started by a group of parents who realized that adult-provided alcohol at teen parties was a problem:

"A lot of adults think it's OK to provide alcohol at teen parties," said Anna Foglia, executive director of Sun Street Centers in Salinas, which offers drug and alcohol-abuse programs.

Adults often do provide alcohol in the well-intentioned, but mistaken, hope that they'll be better able to control things by having a party at home. It's called "social hosting."

"It's dangerous, and it's illegal," Foglia said. "All those adults are really doing is sending a message that it's OK to drink."

Experts estimate that underage drinking is responsible for about 5,000 deaths in the United States every year.

Labels: prevention, teenage_drinking, parental_involvement

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A study from Penn State University indicates that parents who allow their teenagers to drink at home may be increasing their children's risk of dangerous drinking later in life.

Dr. Caitlin Abar, of PSU's Prevention Research and Methodology Center, studied 300 college freshmen. Half the group had parents who never allowed them to drink, and they were the ones less likely to drink heavily in college.

"The greater the number of drinks that a parent had set as the limit for their teens, the more often they drank and got drunk in college," Dr. Abar reported. Dr. Abar's study conflicts with conventional wisdom that it is best not to make alcohol into a "forbidden fruit" and better to drink with your children at home, the way some European families do.

A previous study from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center found that teenagers whose parents gave them alcohol at parties were three times more likely to binge drink in college.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 87 percent of college students have experimented with alcohol and 40 percent say they regularly engage in binge drinking, which is defined as having five or more drinks at one sitting.

Labels: teenage_drinking, binge drinking, college_students

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A University of Pittsburgh professor is recommending that children and teenagers have different standards for binge drinking behaviors and blood alcohol assessments than adults do.

"The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA] definition of binge drinking was developed for adults and not for kids under 18," Professor John Donovan wrote in the journal Pediatrics. "Children and young adolescents weigh substantially less than adults and would likely achieve higher blood alcohol concentration levels ... with significantly fewer drinks."

The NIAAA defines binge drinking as a pattern that brings a person's blood alcohol levels to greater than 0.08 grams per deciliter. At that level, a person is usually legally drunk and exhibits mental and physical impairments. The NIAAA standard is five drinks for a man and four drinks for a woman.

Dr. Donovan examined records of body compositions and alcohol elimination rates for children, adults and adolescents. He believes standards should be adjusted to the following levels:

• Ages nine to 13: Three or more drinks for children ages nine to 13.
• Four or more drinks for boys and three or more for girls ages 14 or 15.
• Five or more drinks for boys and three or more for girls ages 16 and 17.

Dr. Donovan would also believes that the definition of a "heavy drinker" should be re-defined for young people.

"When kids and young teens use alcohol, it puts them at heightened risk for later alcohol and drug dependency, delinquency, early pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as involvement in motor crashes," he wrote.

Labels: teenage_drinking

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According to a May 26 report by the United Press International, the annual rate of alcohol poisoning among German teenagers increased by more than 100 percent during the first seven years of the current decade:

Reports by the German Federal Commissioner for Narcotic Drugs said the number of adolescents treated in the hospital for alcohol poisoning went from 9,500 in 2000 to 23,165 in 2007. About 3,800 of these alcohol poisoning patients were ages 10 to 15, the study said.

Martin Stolle and colleagues of the German Center for Addiction Research in Childhood and Adolescence in Hamburg said that the main reason for the increase was the number of intoxicated teen girls.

With a much more permissive attitude than most Americans have toward young people and alcohol, German society is thought by many to encourage responsible drinking by not forcing young people to hide their alcohol use. However, this study indicates that increased openness does not necessarily equate to a safer experience.

In addition to alcohol poisoning, teen binge drinking has been associated with a number of other health, social, and developmental problems.

Labels: teenage_drinking, alcohol_abuse, binge drinking

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Yet another scientific study using MRI technology has linked teenage binge drinking to brain damage.

Professor Susan Tapert of the University of California, San Diego, performed brain scans on 28 people ages 16 to 19 years old. Half of Prof. Taper's subjects were binge drinkers who got drunk often. This group had lower levels of white matter fiber coherence in 18 separate areas of their brains. White matter is critical for the relay of information within the brain.

"Because the brain is still developing during adolescence, there has been concern that it may be more vulnerable to high doses of alcohol," Dr. Tapert said.

Government surveys show that about 55 percent of all high school seniors say they have been drunk once in the past year, and about 25 percent report drinking five drinks in a row during the past two weeks.

This study appeared in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Labels: teenage_drinking, alcohol_abuse, brain_damage, binge drinking

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Young people in the city of Newcastle could find themselves getting some undesired attention if they're caught drinking. A new program in the Northern England town will refer underage drinkers to a youth worker whose job will be to ask some hard questions.

The Home Office scheme aims to assess the young person's alcohol consumption and [his or her] reasons for drinking. They will also be warned about the dangers of substance abuse, and may be referred for medical treatment. (Source: The Press Association)

The new program extends an existing, similar, program that focuses on adult drinkers. It is one of several programs being rolled out as England attempts to curb instances of underage drinking.

Labels: teenage_drinking, teen_drug_use

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An Arkansas state panel has recommended that alcoholic beverages like Mike's Hard Lemonade be categorized as hard liquor and sold only in liquor stores rather than grocery stores or gas stations. The task force also recommended raising sales taxes on the beverages.

"The recommendations, six in all, are designed to attack underage drinking because alcohol is generally the first drug young people try and is considered 'the premiere gatekeeper' to illegal drug use, Arkansas Drug Director Fran Flener said."

Other recommendations included keeping the state's minimum drinking age at 21 and enforcing its social host liability law, which holds individuals responsible when underage drinking occurs on their property. Source: Arkansas News Bureau

Labels: teenage_drinking, underage_drinking, alcohol_sales

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A study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that children who experiment with alcohol before age 15 are more likely to develop alcohol dependency as adults.

NIAA researchers analyzed records of more than 22,000 young people and found that those who took a first drink before age 15 had more drinking problems later in life than did those who delayed experimenting with alcohol.

The findings may indicate that parents should not offer a child and even young adolescent an alcoholic beverage because it could act as "trigger" for a problem, especially among those who have a genetic predisposition toward addictions.

Labels: teenage_drinking, alcohol_abuse, addiction

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Many parents experience anxiety when their teen first gets his or her driver's license. What many of these parents don't realize is that they should be very anxious indeed. As a parent of an underage driver, you could be liable for mistakes your teen makes while driving. If your teen is in an accident where someone in his car (or another car) is injured, you might discover that you are at great financial risk, especially if you had previous knowledge that your teen has an issue with alcohol or drugs and did not take steps to intervene in your teen's behavior.

Read more about parental liability for underage driving.

Labels: teenage_drinking, underage drinking, dui, drunk driving

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Most teenagers get their first alcoholic drink from their mother or father, according to a new study by the University of Florida and the University of Minnesota.

Researchers surveyed 4000 children ages 12 to 14 years old in Chicago between the years 2002 and 2005. About 17% of the 12-year-olds had consumed a full glass of alcoholic beverage within the past year  and a third reported that their parents had given them their drinks.

Author Kelli Komro said that the researchers suspected that teens first discover beer or hard liquor with friends, but that assumption proved false.

"It's important to educate parents about the consequences of the early onset of drinking, and to prevent them from being a source of alcohol for their children," she said.

This study appears in the April issue of Preventive Medicine.

If you, your teen, or someone you know is struggling with teen alcohol or drug abuse, there are lots of great resources online. Learn about teen alcohol drug abuse at drugrehabtreatment.com and ways for parents to help their teen with drug and alcohol abuse at byparents-forparents.com.

Labels: teenage_drinking, alcohol, parents

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Seven years ago, New Jersey adopted a law that allows municipalities to enact ordinances about teenage drinking on private property. A handful of Middlesex County communities are utilizing the law to enforce punishments on teens caught drinking on private property.

"In East Brunswick's case, its ordinance punishes teenagers caught drinking on private property with license suspensions of six months, plus fines of $250 for a first offense and $350 thereafter."

These Middlesex communities hope the new ordinances will help curb teenage drinking. Adolescents who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become dependant on alcohol. Read more at thnt.com.

Labels: teenage_drinking, punishment, ordinances

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As research continues to provide increasing evidence that the brain undergoes significant development during the teenage years, pediatricians are being encouraged to talk more honestly with their young patients about teen alcohol and drug abuse. At the same time, doctors are also asking parents to have more frank discussions.

 “Talk with your children about your family’s history of alcohol or drug use. There’s a genetic component to alcoholism, and kids should know if they’re at greater risk of problems. Give your children one-on-one time with the pediatrician. Think of it as their lesson in how to navigate the healthcare system.” (Source: U.S. News and World Report)

Parents should also set firm household policies about drugs and alcohol, making alcohol off-limits until age 21, and drugs off-limits period. It’s also important for parents to model responsible behavior. Have a beer, but don’t get drunk.


 

Labels: teenage_drinking, teen_drug_use, alcohol_abuse, drug use, teenagers

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St. Clair County, Michigan has launched a campaign aimed at adults who provide alcohol to teenagers. While teens may like the idea of having the “cool parent” who hosts parties and lets kids drink, that parent could end up in jail. A new ad campaign sends a warning.

Billboards have been seen throughout the county, with [Sheriff Tim] Donnellon and [Prosecutor Mike] Wendling photographed standing in front of the bars of the old county jail, with this caption: "Provide alcohol to minors and the party stops here."[Source: The Times Herald (MI)]

Studies have shown that the younger a child is when he starts drinking, the more likely he will become an alcoholic. In addition, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism states that about 5,000 minors die every year as a result of underage drinking. Some overdose, other are killed in car and other accidents.

 

Labels: teenage_drinking, parents, laws

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