'A village' influences a teen and alcohol

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- For a teen to misuse alcohol, it takes a village -- families, peers, schools and neighborhoods contribute both positively and negatively, U.S. researchers say.

A longitudinal study conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of California at Davis and the University of California at Irvine used data from 6,544 teens ages 11-17 enrolled in three public school systems in North Carolina.

The researchers surveyed the students every six months five times. The teens were in grades 6-8 when they were first surveyed, and in grades 8-10 at the end of the study. The study also collected information from the U.S. Census and from parents of the teens.

The study, published in the journal Child Development, found family, peers, schools and neighborhoods played a role in whether teens misused alcohol. The study also found that the adolescents generally were more likely to misuse alcohol the more they were exposed to alcohol use by others in their social environments.

However, social environments can mitigate or exacerbate the risk associated with alcohol misuse. For example, the risk for teens of being exposed to drinking by schoolmates weakened when parents supervised their children. On the other hand, the risk of exposure to drinking by schoolmates grew when there was conflict in the family and when more family members drank, the study said.