U.S. surveys: Girls out-drinking boys

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A recent series of surveys in the United States found teenage girls are now drinking alcohol as much as or more than their male counterparts.

James Garbarino, the head of Loyola University's Humanistic Psychology Department, said the negative change in U.S. teenage girls' behaviors was indicative of the movement to increase gender equality nationwide, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

"When you take off the shackles, you release all kind of energy -- negative and positive," the holder of the Maude C. Clarke chair said. "By letting girls loose to experience America more fully, it's not surprising that they would absorb some of its toxic environment."

Meanwhile, a recent study at the University of California at Irvine medical school found that while boys were involved in more car accidents between 2000 and 2004, teenage girls apparently were closing that gap quickly.

Insurance Information Institute Vice President Carolyn Gorman told the Post she too has noticed that disturbing behavioral trend.

"It used to be that girls had far fewer accidents and speeding tickets and were considered to be better risks," Gorman said. "But over the last 15 to 20 years, girls have been catching up with boys."