The relationship between social skills and adolescent drinking

Studies of the drinking patterns of Australian youth have revealed the widespread use of alcohol, with substantial numbers of high school students drinking on a daily basis and regularly becoming intoxicated. The present research investigated the relationship between social skills and drinking behaviour in teenagers. The Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale was administered to 82 males and females aged between 13 and 16 to distinguish among drinkers, problem drinkers and non-drinkers. To measure social skills, the Adolescent Problem Inventory was administered to boys and the Problem Inventory for Adolescent Girls to girls. There were significant group differences on the social skills measures with non-drinkers receiving the highest scores, indicating the most social skills, followed by drinkers and problem drinkers. An analysis of results showed that 11% of drinkers and 50% of problem drinkers were in the incompetent range of social skills performance while no non-drinkers scored in this range. None of the problem drinkers scored in the highly competent range of performance whereas 22% of drinkers and 40% of non-drinkers did. Results are discussed in terms of linking a number of problem behaviours in adolescence, such as drinking, smoking and delinquent behaviour, to deficits in social skills.