Alcohol Use and Abuse among Youth and Young Adults

During adolescence behaviors such as substance use, delinquency, and emotional problems are mostly common. In 2003, 45% of U.S. high school students reported drinking alcohol, 28% reported episodic "heavy drinking" and 22% reported using marijuana during the past month
Alcoholism is emerging as a nationwide issue among youth and young adults during high school and college years. Drinking for some youth may or may not include what is called "binge drinking" or may not be attributed to social issues of acceptance or shyness, other factors that may be related to the dangerous behaviors are family, culture, stress, etc. We need to understand alcoholism in youth and young adults in relation to other mental disorders, which may have some relationship with alcohol related behaviors. A nationwide survey sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, finds that alcoholism is primarily an affliction of youth and heighten suspicion, and that an underlying trait predisposes people to alcoholism, substance abuse and mental disorders. One of the most notable findings so far is that problem drinking peaks at younger ages than researchers previously thought, with the highest prevalence among young adults ages 18 to 25, And according to the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, alcohol abuse is the number one substance abuse problem in rural America, and in particularly within youth and young adults. The report from the Carsey Institute reads that 22% of young adult men living in rural areas have an alcohol abuse problem, as do 12% of young adult women, with a greater distribution among the less educated
Alcohol is a substance that is most often used by adolescents and college students and contributes significantly to social problems, risky sexual behavior, and academic problems. 51% of 15 year-olds, 76% of 18 year-olds, and 85% of 20 year-olds have consumed alcohol. the impact of alcohol use in high school on alcohol problems in college tends to be composed of a moderate direct effect and a relatively strong indirect effect via its impact on current alcohol consumption in college. Some recent research does show that factors such as childhood and early adolescent deviant behavior and family history of depression may be associated with increased alcohol problems. An individual’s personality is what may influence how they respond to stressors. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) discussed a study in which an important finding was that a high level of the personality trait called "novelty seeking" increases the risk among children of alcoholics.
Drinking during college years is almost known throughout the country as "the college experience" and among the mainstream as a "normal phase" that young adults go through. The majority of college students more than likely would not consider their drinking behaviors as binge drinking, and most may even attribute their alcohol-related behaviors to the notion of normality for college students. Many college students who drink do so in ways that are more problematic than they comprehend, and the line between safe and risky drinking is unclear. The drinking-related phenomenon of the word binge describes is 5 or more drinks in a setting for a man and 4 or more for a woman. It is easy for students to think of binges as something that other people do, and to associate it with alcoholics. The overall trend within research seems to show that the more frequent and heavier the alcohol use in high school, the more likely that the individuals involvement in excessive alcohol use in college will be.