Researchers find primary alcohol prevention programs are needed for 'tweens'

A study by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and the University of Florida suggests that ‘tweens’ should receive alcohol prevention programs prior to sixth grade, when nearly one in six children are already alcohol users.

The study found that adolescents who already use alcohol are less receptive to prevention programs aimed at all students. Intervening at earlier ages, specifically between third and fifth grade, would allow for truly universal anti-alcohol messages that would also provide support for high-risk students.

“Children who use alcohol in sixth grade respond differently to messages about alcohol use than those have not used alcohol,” said Keryn Pasch, M.P.H., Ph.D., University of Minnesota School of Public Health and first author of the study. “By sixth grade it’s too late; we’ll miss many of the at-risk kids.”

The study, published in the journal Health Education and Behavior, compared sixth-graders who had used alcohol in the past year to those who had not, in a multi-ethnic, urban sample of more than 4,000 students in 61 Chicago schools. Among this sample, 17 percent had used alcohol within the past year.

The study found that sixth-grade users of alcohol were significantly different from the non-users on almost all risk factors examined. For example, users were more likely to be male, engage in violent or delinquent behavior, and have friends who used alcohol.

Factors such as lacking the confidence to refuse alcohol and failing to perceive and value the negative consequences of alcohol use are critical in at-risk children. “These are important to note because they are amenable to intervention,” Pasch said.

Researchers suggest a prevention program prior to sixth grade in which parent involvement is central. Students should receive developmentally-appropriate messages that correct inaccurate perceptions that ‘drinking is normal’ and that provide tweens with the skills to refuse alcohol. In addition, interventions should include parental involvement in order to help create opportunities for increased parent-child communication and provide parents with the skills to increase monitoring.

“Parents and the general public don’t realize how early alcohol use starts,” Pasch said. “However, in early intervention, parental involvement is a key factor in delaying alcohol use.”

Source: University of Minnesota

Related stories:

Scientifically valid prevention programs cut rates of juvenile delinquency
Seventh-grade students in U.S. communities that have set up scientifically validated programs to reduce juvenile delinquency have a significantly smaller chance of engaging such behavior than do children in towns that have not adopted such programs.
Overall, illicit drug use by American teens continues gradual decline in 2007
Eighth, 10th and 12th grade students across the country are continuing to show a gradual decline in the proportions reporting use of illicit drugs, according to the 33rd national survey in the Monitoring the Future series conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.
Outdoor alcohol ads boost kids' urge to drink
In the world depicted in an alcohol billboard, bikini-clad babes clutch icy bottles, frothy beer flows over frosty mugs and the slogan reads, “Life is good.” Ads like these may target adults, but children are getting the message too, a University of Florida and University of Minnesota study shows.
Study: Ads influence kids' drinking
U.S. researchers have determined children's exposure to alcohol advertising during early adolescence influences their later drinking habits.
Smokers treated for brain aneurysm with coils at higher risk of recurrence
Cigarette smokers who were treated for cerebral aneurysms with coil embolization (blocking of a blood vessel) are at greater risk of developing another aneurysm, say neurological surgeons at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in Philadelphia in the first-known study of its kind.
Curbing teen drinking difficult in urban areas
Keeping middle schoolers from alcohol is a tougher task in the inner city than in rural areas, even for experts armed with the best prevention programs, a new University of Florida study shows.
Learning how to say 'no' to alcohol advertising and peer pressure works for inner-city adolescents
Teens who can recognize and resist the persuasive tactics used in alcohol ads are less likely to succumb to alcohol advertising and peer pressure to drink.
Moderate level of aerobic fitness may lower stroke risk
A moderate level of aerobic fitness can significantly reduce stroke risk for men and women, according to a large, long-running study presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2008.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news