The minimum drinking age in the United States (U.S) is 21 years. Despite this, annually, 11% of the nation’s alcohol is consumed by teenagers and young adults aged between 12 and 20 ( Zuckerman , 2018). Often, this alcohol is consumed through binge drinking, accounting for more than 90% of all the alcohol drank by young people. In men, binge drinking refers to the consumption of five or more alcoholic drinks in a row within two hours or less, and four drinks by women in the same duration ( Silveri, 2019; Zuckerman , 2018). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , binge drinking refers to a drinking pattern that pushes an individual’s blood alcohol concentration to about 0.08% or more ( Silveri, 2019). When binge drinking, most alcohol is likely to be drank by young adults aged between 18 and 24 years. This group is likely to consume approximately nine drinks in 2 hours. Nevertheless, high schoolers are also likely to engage in binge drinking. Thus, alcohol is the most ordinarily used and misused drug by young people in the U.S, with up to 4,300 annual deaths being attributed to excessive underage drinking ( Silveri, 2019). Binge drinking is also associated with an elevated risk of violent behavior, drunk driving, sexual assault, long-term addiction to alcohol, brain damage, and transmitted diseases. In light of the above, this paper will examine u nderage d rinking in the U.S.
Four Stages of Alcoholism
To adequately address underage drinking challenges, there is a need for the concerned entities to recognize the different stages of alcoholism. This may aid in weighing the available options for treatment or detoxication. There are four main stages of alcoholism. These are adaptive or pre-alcoholic, dependence or early alcoholic, progression, middle alcoholic or loss of control stage, and lastly, conclusion or late alcoholic ( American Addiction Centers Inc , 2019b; Elite Pain Management, 2019; Kaushal, 2017).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Adaptive Stage
In the adaptive stage, an individual begins taking part in frequent social drinking. As a result, it is difficult for an outsider to establish whether this trend marks the beginning of the journey towards alcoholic dependency, or the individual is just enjoying themselves ( Elite Pain Management, 2019). However, when the person uses drinking as an avenue for psychologically escaping his or her reality, then he or she is deemed to have moved from normal drinking to the first stage of alcoholism.
During the adaptive stage, drinking is no longer a social activity. Instead, it is a habitual means via which the person emotionally escapes his or her fears, problems, and inhibitions. The most crucial process in the adaptive stage is the person’s development of tolerance ( American Addiction Centers Inc , 2019b; Kaushal, 2017). This stage is progressive, in that the drinker ends up consuming large amounts of alcohol to achieve the same feeling. Likewise, changes take place in the person's body, particularly at the cellular level. These changes are aimed at helping the body to adapt to high alcohol intake. However, on the outside, there is little evidence of the developing disease.
Dependence Stage
Once an individual continues drinking large amounts of alcohol for extended periods, he or she develops dependence, which is the most outstanding attribute of the second phase of alcoholism. Since the person's body has adapted to high alcohol intake, he or she may begin feeling irritable and uncomfortable when not taking alcohol. Due to increasing levels of tolerance, the person ends up craving alcohol all the time. Another vital sign of this stage is that the individual often plans his or her daily schedule around drinking (Elite Pain Management, 2019; Kaushal, 2017). The person also often lies to his family and friends about his or her drinking habits.
At this stage, alcoholic cravings force the individual to begin spiking daily drinks, increasing alcohol intake during meals, or always thinking about being drunk. It is also difficult for the individual to stop drinking once he or she has had the first drink. At the dependence stage, a person's drinking problem is noticeable to his co-workers, friends, and family members. However, the person conceals the behavior through lying, isolation, and people avoidance. The physical and psychological consequences of alcoholism are also evident at this stage. Key among these include stomach issues, hangovers, hand tremors, and blackouts ( Kaushal, 2017). Psychologically, the alcoholics deny their drinking problem and blame circumstances and people for their challenges.
Progression Stage
The most profound characteristic of this stage is the alcoholic’s loss of control. Thus, while he or she may want to have a few drinks, they find themselves both unwilling and unable to stop once they take the first drink. These persons also end up taking extreme measures of maintaining a consistent supply of alcohol in their day-to-day lives. Notable among these measures include taking alcohol in inappropriate settings and times. An alcoholic in the progression stage may drink at work, in public, when taking care of children, and even while driving ( American Addiction Centers Inc , 2019b; Elite Pain Management, 2019; Kaushal, 2017). Different symptoms of the problem also begin to show at this stage.
Various mental and physical symptoms can be used in identifying an alcoholic at the progression stage. The person becomes temperamental and easily irritable. Other symptoms include weight loss or gain, stomach bloating, and sluggishness (Elite Pain Management, 2019). While the alcoholic may notice the developing problem, he or she lacks the willpower needed to stop or seek help. Further, the individual may start experiencing various issues related to his or her habit, such as legal, family, financial, and work issues (Kaushal, 2017). As the individuals’ isolation from family and friends intensifies, these persons begin neglecting such essential things as their interests and hobbies, shelter, personal hygiene, and food. The ability to stop drinking also diminishes at this stage.
Conclusion Stage
A complete loss of self-control characterizes this stage. Thus, to function, the individual has to drink alcohol (Kaushal, 2017). The long-term effects of alcohol abuse also become apparent, including serious health concerns. Some notable effects include loss of friends and family, disease, paranoia, financial distress, and job loss. Due to the alienation of friends and family, the alcoholic is forced to face the problem alone, and in the process, worsens the situation. On attempting to stop the drinking habit, the alcoholic faces such withdrawal symptoms as hallucinations, irritability, seizures, headache, and tremors (Kaushal, 2017). The alcoholic may also die in some instances. At this stage, it is critical that the individual receives treatment for the condition. Possible options include medical detox, followed by psychological and emotional rehabilitation.
Why Underage Drinking is Dangerous
Underage drinking is associated with various problems. Key among these include i mpair ed judgment , increased risk of injuries , i ncrease d risk of sexual and physical assault , and lastly, interference with brain development . Given their phase of development, young people are likely to make irrational and immature decisions. Underage drinking only serves to compound the problem. Specifically, underage drinking may impair the young person's judgment causing him or her to make the wrong decisions in life (Marshall, 2014). These may include befriending the wrong people, skipping classes, engaging in risky sexual behaviors, and absconding duties, among others.
Underage drinking can also be injurious to individuals. For instance, binge drinking has been associated with drunken driving, which, in some cases, causes accidents. This may lead to death or severe physical harm ( Silveri , 2019). Likewise, the individuals may fall in their drunken states, injuring themselves in the process. Underage drinking is closely associated with an increased risk of both physical and sexual assault. For instance, it is highly common for drink individuals to engage in fights, which increases the chances of physical injury. Likewise, cases of rape and other forms of sexual assault are closely associated with underage drinking. Lastly, underage drinking interferes with the young people's brain development ( American Addiction Centers Inc , 2019a; Silveri, 2019; Marshall, 2014; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism , 2006 ). Since brain development progression from adolescence to young adulthood, drinking in this phase of development is bound to have lifelong impacts on brain function, and in particular, coordination, memory, and motor skills.
Why So Many Young People Drink
Stress
Young adulthood is characterized by a quest by young people to focus on their education and training so as to secure their future. Since this is vital for their success in the future, any problems encountered in school and work are likely to result in stress and frustrations ( National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism , 2006 ). This results in many unhealthy behaviors, including drinking. On the other hand, the use of alcohol during this transition phase is likely to impede success in mastering these critical developmental tasks, which consequently increases stress further. In this regard, young people drink in a bid to relieve stress. However, drinking as a way of dealing with negative feelings acts as a predictor of future drinking problems amongst young people ( American Addiction Centers Inc , 2019a).
Peer Pressure
Individuals going to college or work are likely to be highly vulnerable to their peers’ influence. This is especially aided by their need to make new friends. Thus, young people are likely to engage in drinking so as to be accepted by their peers . Peer pressure, in this case, may be exerted either directly or indirectly ( National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism , 2006 ). Direct peer pressure takes the form of increased urges to drink or beer offers. Indirect peer pressure, on the other hand, takes place through modeling of the perceived social norms.
Perceived social norms include the assumption that all friends seem to be drinking, and thus drinking is acceptable behavior ( Rolando et al., 2012) . These perceived social norms act as one of the strongest drivers of drinking among young people. For instance, college students often think that campus attitudes are more open to drinking than is the actual case. Consequently, an individual student may believe that his or her colleagues are drinking more than them. This forces the individual to increase his or her alcohol intake so as to catch up ( National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism , 2006 ). To reduce drinking in young people, there is a need to address these misconceptions. Nevertheless, an individual may choose to join a particular peer group owing to its drinking practices as opposed to changing their drinking behavior to fit a given peer group.
Increased independence
Young adulthood, as a phase of life, is characterized by exploration and change. For instance, it is during this phase that individuals start living alone, either in their houses or dormitories. As these young people start working full-time, go to college, or establish serious relationships, they explore their identities while narrowing down on how best they can fit in the world around them. As this happens, their parents' roles are weakened while that of their peers is strengthened. Since these young adults, for the first time, are on their own, they are independent to make their decisions ( National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism , 2006 ) . Key among these decisions include those pertaining to the consumption of alcohol. Many young people reckon that the environment in their college campus is ideal for heavy drinking. The majority of college social functions are characterized by alcohol use, with a significant number of students viewing college as the most ideal place for drinking excessively.
Factors to Consider to Prevent Underage Drinking
Personality
Some personality traits influence high levels of alcohol intake and increased frequency of drinking. These traits include sensation seeking, impulsivity, and risk taking ( National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism , 2006 ). For instance, sensation seekers are likely to consistently look for new and exciting experiences. Coupled with impulsivity, sensation-seeking is closely associated with nonconformity and deviant behavior ( Mushquash, 2014 ) . The two are also crucial predictors of excessive drinking and the associated problems in young people. Other personality traits that influence heavy drinking include feeling invincible.
The majority of young people often don't see themselves as being vulnerable to the negative consequences of heavy drinking, including having accidents or being dependent on alcohol. This is referred to as optimistic bias and is likely to force young people to take such risks as heavy drinking. The decision to drink is driven by the perceived benefits of partaking in alcohol. On the other hand, anxiety disorders, depression, and negative moods play a crucial role in influencing the consumption of alcohol ( National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism , 2006 ). These traits are likely to force young people into developing heavy drinking problems.
Level of risk
The level of risk plays a crucial role in efforts to prevent underage drinking. In this regard, there is a need to differentiate risk and the numerous protective factors in terms of their malleability and causal status. Since parents and peers play a crucial role in influencing underage drinking and the associated problems, there is a need to understand the numerous indirect pathways via which they do this. In a bid to address personality challenges, there is a need to examine the various facets of personality that increase the risk of drinking among the underage and the pathways via which they achieve this ( National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism , 2006 ) . For instance, such externalizing factors and associated traits as low self-control, impulsivity, and sensation seeking are closely linked with early onset of underage drinking and its escalation. Internalizing factors, though playing a crucial role in promoting underage drinking, are less strongly linked to the age of onset of the problem.
The levels of cognitive processes related to alcohol should be explored due to their importance in predicting alcohol problems. Some of these predictors include the motive to consume alcohol and the attention that alcohol-related stimuli capture. Other important issues to consider with regard to risks are their causal status as well as their amenability to intervention. Further, the malleability of risk factors has to be explored.
Social f actors
Various social factors influence underage drinking and have to be considered when preventing the problem. One notable social factor is young people's socioeconomic status (SES). For instance, adolescents from high SES homes are likely to exhibit a high prevalence of alcohol use in their lifetime compared to those from lower SES homes. Students from wealthy backgrounds are often enrolled in private schools due to the lack of resources in public schools. Interestingly, incidences of binge drinking are high in private schools compared to public schools. On the other hand, family structure, quality of the relationship between a young person and their parents, and lastly, supervision plays a crucial role in influencing underage drinking ( Marshall, 2014) .
Reduced alcoholic consumption is associated with such factors as increased confidence in a young person's mother, presence of a parent at home at the end of a school day, and parental control over television watching. Parents who are alcoholics are likely to pass the same trait to their children in the process, increasing the likelihood of underage drinking. Moreover, weak domestic structures, coupled with low parental support, are likely to fuel underage drinking and ought to be considered in prevention efforts.
Environmental factors
With increased independence among young people, the influence of their peers increases while that of their family and parents declines. Due to this, these individuals engage in various risky behaviors such as drug abuse, smoking, sexual activity, and drinking. The effects of peers on risk-taking are also elevated among young people. Thus, young people whose friends are substance abusers are also at higher risk of engaging in such behaviors. This is because peer acceptance acts as a social reward for young people, mainly because it is linked with social competence and self-esteem (Marshall, 2014; Rolando et al., 2012 ).
The likelihood that a young person will drink is increased by being surrounded by friends who drink. The amount of alcohol consumed by a young person’s friends also influences his or her drinking habits. A young person’s likelihood of drinking excessively is likely to be influenced by older friends and time spent with drinking peers ( Rolando et al., 2012) . In such cases, parental expectations and their involvement in their children's social activity may aid in moderating alcohol use. Another essential preventive factor is religious affiliation. Declined parental supervision, positive expectations of consuming alcohol, ease of access to access, and the presence of a close member of the family who drinks are also likely to influence drinking among young people.
Types of Interventions
School - based interventions
There has been increased research in the realm of school-based interventions for underage drinking. This has led to the development of several interventions. Some of these interventions include peer-refusal skills, strengthening of positive peer relationships, life skills, roleplaying as a means of practicing new skills, providing accurate norms on the consumption of alcohol, strengthening peer relationships that are positive, and supporting the improvement of adolescent emotional regulation ( Spoth et al., 2009). These interventions have been associated with reduced disruptive and aggressive behavior in young adults. They have also been seen to reduce early initiation into alcoholism and the progression of alcohol consumption in adolescents.
Family - based interventions
Various interventions focussing on the family have been developed with the aim of addressing underage drinking. Often, these interventions address a wide range of protective and risk factors whose genesis is the family. Notably, the interventions focus on parental involvement, child monitoring, effective discipline, and parent-child bonding ( Spoth et al., 2009). They have also been geared towards reducing aggressive behavior, strengthening the child-parent relationship, and improving the children's cognitive and social competence as they transition from one phase of life to another. Also, some interventions have integrated school and family components. Ultimately, besides delaying initiation into alcohol use, these interventions have been found to be effective in reducing the consumption of alcohol during the teenage years.
Individual-level interventions
For the sustainability of solutions to underage drinking, the need for individual-level interventions cannot be overstated. While some of these interventions may be justice system based, others may occur within the social services realm. The latter entails such aspects as counseling and treatment that are custom-made to effectively meet the needs of targeted individuals ( Crowe et al., 2011). Treatment programs have to form integral components of individual-level interventions. In particular, timely and targeted treatment interventions are essential for high-risk individuals and provide immense benefits for not only the individual. Individual-level interventions should be aimed at developing the skills necessary for the young people in question to attain self-sufficiency in dealing with their alcohol problem.
The Role Parents Can Play
Parents undoubtedly play a crucial role in the development and progression of underage drinking. Thus, their role in addressing the problem cannot be overstated. Firstly, parents can contribute by having a discourse on alcohol with their children. In particular, parents need to talk to their children about the dangers of underage drinking. By explaining the effects on underage drinking such as growth and development concerns, academic performance, likelihood of future addiction, parents can help stop the problem from starting or escalating. Secondly, since the availability of alcohol at home is a key driver of underage drinking, parents can help address the problem by ensuring that their homes are alcohol-free ( Rolando et al., 2012; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism , 2006 ). Likewise, to ensure that this rule is not broken, parents should ensure that any parties taking place at home are supervised. Lastly, children often learn best through observation. Thus, for parents to be successful at preventing underage drinking, they have to lead by example. In particular, by not drinking alcohol, parents act as role models that their children can emulate.
References
American Addiction Centers, Inc. ( 2019, July 3a). What Are the Signs of a Young Adult Alcoholic Subtype? Retrieved October 23, 2019 , from https://www.alcohol.org/alcoholism-types/young-adult/
American Addiction Centers, Inc. ( 2019, July 3b ). The four stages of alcoholism. Retrieved November 14, 2019, from https://www.alcohol.org/alcoholism-types/stages/
Crowe, A. H., Mullins, T. G., Cobb, K. A., & Lowe, N. C. (2011). Underage Drinking: Intervention Principles and Practice Guidelines for Community Correction . American Probation and Parole Association.
Elite Pain Management (2019, August 20). Stages of alcohol dependency. Retrieved November 14, 2019, from https://elitepainmanagement.md/2019/08/20/stages-of-alcohol-dependency/
Kaushal, M. (2017, August 14). Four Stages of Alcoholism. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from
https://cdn.websites.hibu.com/e0f448221eeb4e3b85d223bf67b1b712/files/uploaded/Four%20Stages%20of%20Alcoholism.pdf
Marshall, E. J. (2014). Adolescent alcohol use: risks and consequences. Alcohol and alcoholism , 49 (2), 160-164. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agt180
Mushquash, C. (2014). A brief description of an early alcohol use intervention for first nations adolescents. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne , 55 (1), 48.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2006, April). Young Adult Drinking. Retrieved October 23, 2019, from https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa68/aa68.htm b
Rolando, S., Beccaria, F., Tigerstedt, C., & Törrönen, J. (2012). First drink: What does it mean? The alcohol socialization process in different drinking cultures. Drugs: education, prevention and policy , 19 (3), 201-212.
Silveri, M. M. (2019, February 23). What You Need to Know About Alcohol and the Developing Teenage Brain. Retrieved October 23, 2019, from https://www.mcleanhospital.org/news/what-you-need-know-about-alcohol-and-developing-teenage-brain .
Spoth, R., Greenberg, M., & Turrisi, R. (2009). Overview of preventive interventions addressing underage drinking: State of the evidence and steps toward public health impact. Alcohol Research & Health , 32 (1), 53.
Zuckerman, D. (2018, May 2). Binge drinking in teens and young adults. Retrieved October 23, 2019, from http://www.center4research.org/binge-drinking-teens-young-adults/ .
