Parental and School Correlates of Binge Drinking Among Middle School Students

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 95; no. 5; pp. 894 - 899
• Main Authors: Guilamo-Ramos, Vincent, Jaccard, James, Turrisi, Robert, Johansson, Margaret
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Am Public Health Assoc 01.05.2005; American Public Health Association; American Journal of Public Health 2005
• Subjects: Adolescent; Alcohol; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Alcohol use; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Communication; Comparative studies; Ethanol - poisoning; Ethnicity; Female; Humans; Logistic Models; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Middle school students; Middle schools; Miscellaneous; Parent-Child Relations; Parents & parenting; Prevalence; Public health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Public schools; Research and Practice; Risk factors; Secondary schools; Social conditions & trends; Teachers; Teenagers; Toxicology; United States - epidemiology; United States; North America; America; United States > US; Social environment; Human; Secondary education; Parent; Alcoholism; Drinking; Student; School environment; Alcoholic beverage; Follow up study; Adolescent; Risk factor; Family environment; Public health
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2003.018952

We examined the prevalence and dynamics of binge drinking among middle school students. We analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The sample was composed of approximately 5300 seventh-and eighth-grade students who were interviewed at 2 points in time. Approximately 8% of seventh graders and 17% of eighth graders reported engaging in binge drinking during the past 12 months. These rates varied as a function of school characteristics. Low scores on the parenting variables-communication quality, use of reasoning, and control and supervision-and binge drinking during middle school also were predictive of binge drinking during high school. Binge drinking among middle school students is an important phenomenon that for many students forecasts future binge drinking during high school.