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 Just 2.6 percent of 13-year-olds were frequent binge drinkers
between 2007 and 2015, down from 5 percent between 1991 and 1998,
researchers report in Pediatrics. Over those same periods, the
proportion of 18-year-olds consuming at least five drinks in a row
at least twice every two weeks dropped from 20 percent to about 15
percent.
"What is unique from our study is that it's not only about binge
drinking but also frequent involvement in binge drinking that is
decreasing" said lead study author Bohyun Joy Jang of the Institute
for Social Research at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
"This could be good news, but there are also concerns - there are
variations in the declining rates," Jang said by email. "First,
black youth have experienced slower declines since 1991. Second, the
gender gap is narrowing due to females’ slower decline in the
frequent binge drinking rates."
While previous research has documented declines in teen alcohol use
since the 1990s, the current study offers fresh insight into how
binge drinking habits have changed over time.
For the study, Jang and colleagues analyzed data from a nationally
representative sample of more than one million students in 8th, 10th
and 12th grades between 1991 and 2015.
Teens responded to surveys that asked how often they could recall
having at least five drinks in a row over the previous two weeks.
They defined one drink as a bottle of beer, a glass of wine, a wine
cooler, a shot glass of liquor or a mixed drink.
Teens born around 1990 had a lower risk of frequent binge drinking
than those born earlier and later, the study found.
Girls were less likely to be frequent binge drinkers than boys, but
the gap narrowed over time. Between 1991 and 1998, girls were 42
percent less likely to binge drink than boys, but they were just 29
percent less likely to binge drink in the period between 2007 and
2015.
Black teens were 58 percent less likely to be frequent binge
drinkers than white youth between 1991 and 1998, but just 47 percent
less likely by the end of the study.
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Teens from households with less income and education were also more
likely to report frequent binge drinking than their more affluent
peers.
One limitation of the study is that it only included teens enrolled
in school, which may not reflect all adolescents in the U.S., the
authors note. It's also possible that the amount of alcohol teens
consumed varied based on the types of beverage they drank.
Even so, the findings suggest that declines in teen drinking may not
be uniform and that some adolescents may be more prone to this
behavior than others, Dr. Justine Wittenauer Welsh of Emory
University School of Medicine in Atlanta writes in an accompanying
editorial.
"The findings from this study are particularly concerning because
adolescents from racial and ethnic minorities are shown to be less
likely to receive care for substance use and co-occuring disorders
once they develop," Welsh said by email. "Any significant
differences in the decline of these rates may indicate the potential
for more individuals to develop problematic substance use."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2qcG3r0 and http://bit.ly/2rJ6nek Pediatrics,
online May 22, 2017.
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