Overestimation of drinking norms and its association with alcohol consumption in apprentices

To investigate associations of normative misperceptions and drinking behaviors in apprentices, complementing the previous literature on university students.

A survey in a defined region of northern Germany was carried out among 1124 apprentices attending vocational schools. Using items from the short form of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C), drinking behaviors and normative perceptions of drinking in the reference group of same-gender apprentices were assessed. Demographic, smoking- and drinking-related predictors for normative misperceptions were explored.

Personal drinking behavior was positively correlated with perceived norms, both for drinking frequency (males: Kendall's τ = 0.33, P < 0.01; females: τ = 0.22, P < 0.01) and drinking quantity (males: Kendall's τ = 0.39, P < 0.01; females: τ = 0.25, P < 0.01). Alcohol use disorders according to AUDIT-C cut-offs were more prevalent in subjects who overestimated drinking quantity in their reference group than in those who correctly estimated or underestimated drinking quantity (male: P < 0.01; relative risk (RR) 1.78; female: P < 0.01; RR 1.65). Concerning drinking frequency, this difference was only found in males (P < 0.01; RR 1.49). Male gender and higher alcohol use were positively associated with normative misperceptions of both drinking quantity and frequency.

Interventions correcting alcohol use misperceptions might be effective in reducing problem drinking in adolescents with heterogeneous educational levels.