A Survey of Abstinence from Alcohol Amongst Teenagers: An Analysis of Reasons for not Drinking*

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Abstract
This is a preliminary study into the reasons adolescents give for not drinking alcohol. This survey of religious and other reasons was conducted among 571 adolescents who identified themselves as being non‐drinkers from a sample of 2077 school students in Years 7 to 11 from 29 New South Wales schools. The survey was conducted by the NSW Drug and Alcohol Authority in connection with its regular monitoring programme which has been underway since 1971. Government, Catholic and other independent schools were used in the study.This report outlines the percentage of each reason for abstinence given by early, middle and late adolescents and concludes with a discussion of the ordering of reasons for abstinence. Methods of discovering the effect of religious and other variables in promoting drinking, as well as preventing drinking behaviour, are suggested.