National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Ann Bradley
Diane Miller
301/443-3860
AGE OF DRINKING ONSET PREDICTS FUTURE ALCOHOL ABUSE AND DEPENDENCE
BETHESDA, MARYLAND - The younger the age of drinking onset, the greater the chance that an individual at some point in life will develop a clinically defined alcohol disorder, according to a new report to be released January 14 by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Young people who began drinking before age 15 were four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence (alcohol addiction, commonly known as alcoholism) than those who began drinking at age 21, researchers found. The risk that a person would develop alcohol abuse (a maladaptive drinking pattern that repeatedly causes life problems) was more than doubled for persons who began drinking before age 15 compared with those who began drinking at age 21.
WHAT: Release of new study on the relationship between age at drinking onset and subsequent alcohol abuse and dependence
WHEN: Wednesday, January 14 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: Edward R. Murrow Room National Press Club 529 14th Street, NW Washington, D.C.
WHO: Enoch Gordis, M.D. Director, NIAAA
Mary C. Dufour, M.D., M.P.H. Deputy Director, NIAAA Director, Division of Biometry and Epidemiology, NIAAA
Bridget F. Grant, Ph.D., Ph.D. Division of Biometry and Epidemiology, NIAAA
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