A Survey of Drinking and Deviant Behaviour Among 14/15 Year Olds in North West England

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Abstract
This paper reports on drinking levels and patterns amongst a cohort of 776 young people in the N.W. of England. A first administration of an anonymous self report questionnaire was completed in late 1991. Given satisfactory levels of validity and representativeness (for example, for gender, race and class) were achieved, this survey provides an early indication of how 1990s' adolescents' alcohol use may be changing and also how early drinking may be related to deviant behaviour. Four types of drinker were identified: weekly (30%), monthly (24%), occasional (32%) and abstinent (14%). The typical drinking scenario involved consuming a mean nine units of alcohol in mixed-sex groups or with parents; either in public places or private households; on weekends or special occasions. The main drink-related experiences reported were feeling happy, having a good time, and feeling at ease with friends. Eight in 10 of the sample reported deviant behaviour in the past year, particularly being noisy at night, threatening someone, and going to nightclubs. A third of these reported drinking before at least one deviant behaviour. A quarter reported having been stopped by the police, one in 10 having been arrested, and one in seven reported criminal convictions (notably criminal damage, disorderly behaviour, and theft from shops). There were several differences in reported behaviour between boys and girls, and between different types of drinker. Delinquent acts in general and drug use in particular seem closely related to regular, heavy drinking at an early age.