Initiation and persistence of alcohol use in United States Black, Hispanic, and White male and female youth.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The relation between early and frequent alcohol use and later difficulties is quite strong. However, the degree that alcohol use persists, which is often a necessary cause for developing alcohol-related problems or an alcohol use disorder, is not well studied, particularly with attention to race and gender. A novel statistical approach, the Multi-facet Longitudinal Model, enables the concurrent study of age of initiation and persistence.

Methods

The models were applied to longitudinal data on youth alcohol use from ages 12 through 19, collected in the (U.S.) National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (N=8984).

Results

Results confirmed that Black adolescents initiate alcohol use at later ages than do White youth. Further, after initiation, White adol

SUBMITTER: Malone PS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3258351 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature