Northeast > Resources > Topic Specific > Underage Drinking > Youth's perception of risks of alcohol

I’m interested in what recent research says about youth’s perception of the risks associated with alcohol consumption.

The 2004 Monitoring the Future survey reported that among the 8th graders questioned, 14 percent perceived people to be at risk of harming themselves (either physically or in other ways) if they try one or two alcoholic drinks, 31 percent perceived people at risk if they had a drink or two everyday, and 57 percent perceived a risk for people who have at least five drinks once or twice every weekend. The results for two of the three questions were lower for 10th graders: 11 percent of 10th graders perceived a risk of physical and/or other harm for people who try alcohol once or twice, 31 percent perceived risk for people who drink once or twice daily, and 52 percent perceived risk for people who drink at least five drinks once or twice a weekend. When asked the same question of 12th graders, 9 percent perceived risk for people who try alcohol once or twice, 23 percent perceived risk for people who have a drink or two almost everyday, and 44 percent perceived a risk for people who have five or more drinks once or twice a weekend. The data in Figure 1 indicate that students’ perception of alcohol-related risk increases when the frequency and dosage of alcohol increases.

When students were asked about their approval of alcohol use, most students in all grades responded that they disapprove of alcohol use in most cases. In the 8th grade, 51 percent disapproved of people trying one or two drinks, 79 percent disapproved of people drinking one or two drinks a day, and 82 percent disapproved of people who drink five or more drinks once or twice a weekend. In the 10th grade, once again numbers were lower: 38 percent disapproved of people trying one or two drinks, 75 percent disapproved of people drinking one or two drinks a day, and 72 percent disapproved of people who drink five or more drinks once or twice a weekend. In the 12th grade, the same question was asked with one significant change; the question asked: if they disapproved of people over the age of 18 drinking. With this difference the results were: 26 percent of them said that they disapproved of people over the age of 18 trying one or two drinks, 70 percent disapproved of people over the age of 18 drinking one or two drinks a day, and 66 percent disapproved of people over the age of 18 who drink five or more drinks once or twice a weekend. As figure 2 shows, as students get older they are less likely to disapprove of people who drink alcohol.

For more information visit:

Monitoring the Future: This sites provides design information, results and reports of the Monitoring the Future survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and conducted by the University of Michigan. http://monitoringthefuture.org

Please contact the Northeast CAPT at capt@edc.org for more information.