Teenage Alcohol Use And Its Consequences: What Scientists Say
Consequences
American scientists analyzed questionnaires of 5563 twins with questions about alcohol consumption at different ages. The main thing about the study is in the material of RBC Trends
What’s happening
Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey found that drinking at 16-18 years of age continues to affect life satisfaction, physical condition, and self-rated health at 34 years of age.
The researchers took the results of the Finntwin16 project as the basis for the study. As part of it, scientists from Finland from 1991 to 1995 conducted a survey of Finnish twins when they were 16, 17, and 18.5 years old. The questionnaires included questions about alcohol use, smoking, physical activity, general health, eating behavior, weight gain, obesity, and life satisfaction. A total of 5563 twins took part in the study.
Consequences
The choice of twins is due to the fact that such a longitudinal study made it possible to identify family factors for alcohol abuse – scientists had the opportunity to compare the consequences of alcohol consumption within the same family.
Based on these questionnaires, researchers at Rutgers University concluded that alcohol consumed during adolescence indirectly affects physical condition and life satisfaction after 30 years.
Similar work, in contrast to this study, focuses on the consequences of adolescent alcohol use in early adulthood – up to 30 years. Scientists from Rutgers University hope that understanding the long-term effects will allow further development of measures for the early prevention of alcohol abuse.
Consequences
What Does It Mean
In the scientific community, there is still no consensus on the causes of the development of alcohol dependence and its effect on the body.
In 2021, Swedish scientists found that a group of nerve cells in the amygdala, the area of the brain responsible for emotions, plays an important role in the compulsive development of alcoholism. In the experiment, rats pressed a lever to get a small portion of alcohol. After some time, the animals, by pressing the lever, began to receive not only alcohol, but also an electric shock. As a result, a third of the rats, despite the pain, continued to perform the task. In this group, the researchers identified nerve cells in the amygdala.
Consequences
Aleksey Dolgalev, director of the Independence Charitable Foundation and an expert on chemical addiction issues, identifies other causes of addiction to alcohol and chemicals: a neutral or positive attitude towards alcohol in the family, its availability and acceptability; the strong influence of the media and the immediate environment, which together form false beliefs about alcohol; psychological traumas and complexes, difficulties with the perception of oneself and others, life crises and inability to adapt to changes; genetic predisposition to chemical addictions.
Today, digital technologies are becoming one of the methods of combating alcohol addiction: for example, people suffering from it can keep a diary of observations of their condition in special applications, keep gamified sobriety calendars, and also go through group programs via video.
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