- September 18, 2013
- Jennifer Salerno
The pressure to drink alcohol is at its highest during the adolescent years. A new study in JAMA Pediatrics, a Journal of the American Medical Association Network Publication has emerged this week demonstrating one in 10 high school seniors have engaged in extreme binge drinking (10 or more drinks in a row) while 5.6% have consumed 15 or more drinks. About one in five seniors report binge drinking. That percentage has decreased from 22% in 2005 to 18.1% in 2011, the study shows.
According to the study:
- Boys (24.7%) were more likely than girls (15%) to participate in all levels of binge drinking.
- Binge drinking was far more common among white students (23.8%) than black students (7.6%).
- High school seniors with college-educated parents were more likely to binge drink; but students o did not have college-educated parents were more likely to engage in extreme binge drinking.
- Students from rural areas were more likely to engage in extreme binge drinking than students in urban or suburban communities.
- High school seniors who drank 15 or more drinks at a time in the two weeks preceding the survey were significantly more likely than those who did not binge drink to use other drugs.
Did you know that RAAPS addresses levels of drinking alcohol on question 11? Talk with teens about their alcohol use and give them options for being safe when they find themselves in a situation involving alcohol:
- Bring your own non-alcohol drink to a party
- Carry around a cup filled with juice, soda or water
- Don’t accept drinks from others or leave your drink unattended
- If you are given a drink with alcohol, go to the bathroom and dump it in the sink
- Use an excuse to say no such as, I can’t, I have to get up early tomorrow to (work, study,…)”, “I already got in huge trouble once for drinking, I can’t do it again”, or “My parents would kill me!”
Learn more about the study here. Learn more about RAAPS and the questions asked by viewing our website.