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INFORMATION:
DRINKING DANGERS - Study links teen alcohol use with suicide.
Study links teen alcohol use with suicide.
Researchers have long suspected that teenagers who start drinking alcohol before age 13 are substantially more likely to be involved in violent behavior, but a new study from Georgia State’s Institute OF Public Health reveals that these teens are also at a much greater risk for suicide.
Monica Swahn, an associate professor at the institute, has found that those who begin drinking at such a young age are three times more likely then their non-drinking peers to attempt suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth and young adults 15 to 24 years of age. Those who begin drinking before 12 also are more likely to be victims of dating and peer violence, Swahn’s research shows.
“While there have been several studies examining the link between alcohol and violent behavior broadly, few studies have focused specifically on early alcohol use initiation and its impact on either violent or suicidal behaviors,”
Swahn said of her research, which appeared in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Swahn conducted her research through a survey of public school students in grades 7,9,11 and 12 in a community termed “high-risk” because of high levels of poverty, unemployment, serious crimes and single-parent households. The study revealed that, in this particular population, 35 percent of seventh graders had started drinking before the age 13.
Establishing early alcohol use as a risk of suicide attempts and other acts of violence, Swahn said.
“Since early alcohol use was strongly associated with both dating violence victimization and suicide attempts, prevention efforts that delay or reduce adolescent alcohol use may be prevent these forms of violence as well,” she said.
“A number of evidence-based strategies, such as enforcing minimum legal drinking age laws and increasing excise taxes on alcohol, are available but not fully implemented. Increased support of these strategies will be necessary to prevent alcohol abuse and the many health problems associated with its use among young people.” – Van Jensen
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