Alcohol Use Among Adolescents Essay - 737 Words

This lecture deals with alcohol use (and abuse) among adolescents. Alcohol is an extremely important issue for teenagers. There have been many moments in my life during which I have been offered some form of alcohol, but turned it down. In order to avoid being exposed to alcohol and drunken (intoxicated) people, I do not attend parties- I doubt I will even after I turn twenty-one years old. Unfortunately, not too many underage people that I know abide by these rules, and I strongly doubt a high percentage of teenagers do . The lecture would tell of the many negative effects of alcohol, particularly on adolescents. I would also talk about the many misconceptions about the â€Å"positive† effects of alcohol, how alcohol is glamorized in the†¦show more content†¦Almost 40% of underage girls in a recent study reported having an alcoholic beverage, and â€Å"older age, poorer academic performance, greater levels of depression, higher perceived peer alcohol use, and highe r levels of maternal drinking were observed in the group of girls who ever drank and drank recently† (Fang, Schinke, Cole, 2009, p. 710). Not surprisingly, the same study also found that girls who were less depressed and happier with their appearance were less likely to drink. In addition, boys who drink lose some of their attention spans, and girls lose some of their visuospatial functioning (Squeglia, Spadoni, Infante, Myers, Tapert, 2009). Binge drinking among adolescents (also commonly called risky single-occasion drinking and heavy episodic drinking- that is, having at least five drinks during one occasion) has been shown to be associated with a variety of adverse consequences, such as low life satisfaction, depressive mood, poor academic performance, accidents and injuries, bullying and fights, and unprotected sexual intercourse. For this reason, there have been multiple prevention programs that are homogenously geared towards everybody, and thus loses individuality ( Kuntsche, Knibbe, Engels, Gmel, 2010). However, these prevention programs have proven somewhat effective in the United States- adolescent students in the state of Washington are less than half as likely to drink as those in Victoria, Australia (Toumbourou, Hemphill, McMorris, Catalano, Show MoreRelatedAlcohol Use Initiation Among Adolescents2777 Words   |  12 Pagesreview examines alcohol use initiation among adolescents through the constructs of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The review consists of 23 peer-reviewed sources. TPB was applicable to 18 sources, 4 did not fall within the constructs of TPB and 1 source was used solely to understand the public health context of this behavior. Sources were located through PubMed, Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO and Scopus databases. The following combination of search terms were used: â€Å"alcohol use initiation adolescentRead MoreShort Screening Tool Used For Evaluate Alcohol And Drug Use Among Adolescents1660 Words   |   7 Pagesscreening tool used to evaluate alcohol and drug use among adolescents and to help determine need for a more thorough assessment. *Can be self-administered and/or used in interview with patient *Part A has 13 questions that pertain to drug use history. *Part B has 14 questions that cover alcohol and drug use. *This tool is a combined revision of two other scales: the Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale (AAIS) by (Mayer Filstead, 1979, Moberg, 1983) and the Adolescent Drug Involvement Scale (ADIS)Read MoreFactors Influencing Alcohol Influence1417 Words   |  6 Pagesthat Influence Adolescent Alcohol Use Research This paper describes how one research team uses a cross-sectional survey data linked to national-level indicators on alcohol control policies and adult drinking patterns while measures of self-reported adolescent’s weekly drinking and life-time drunkenness. 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According to Teenrehab.com, nearly 50% of all high school seniors have abused some form of illicit substance and according to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism nearly 70% of 18 year olds have at the least tried alcohol. Many more adolescents are trying, and getting addicted to, drugs every year. In my opinion this is one of the most critical issues that we have to address as a society. Summary Response: