Drunkenness and heavy drinking among 11year olds - Findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Heavy drinking among young people is linked to negative consequences including other risky behaviours, educational failure and premature mortality. There is a lack of research examining factors that influence heavy and binge drinking in early adolescence as prior work has focused on older teenagers. The objective of this paper was to identify individual and family factors associated with drunkenness and episodes of heavy drinking in early adolescence. We analysed data on 11,046 11year olds from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios for associations. 1.2% of participants reported having been drunk, and 0.6% reported having had 5 or more drinks in a single episode. Participants who reported drunkenness were more likely to be boys (1.6% vs 0.7%, p<0.01), to have socioemotional difficulties (2.6% vs 1.0%, p<0.001), to report antisocial behaviours (none=0.6%, 1=2.0%, 2 or more=7.0%, p<0.001), report truancy (6.0% vs 1.0%, p<0.001), smoke cigarettes (12.0% vs 0.8%, p<0.001). Parental drinking did not appear to be associated with the odds of drunkenness. Associated with higher odds of drunkenness were: having friends who drank (OR=5.17); having positive expectancies towards alcohol (OR 2+=2.02); ever having smoked cigarettes (OR=5.32); the mother-child relationship not being close (OR=2.17). Associated with a reduced odds of drunkenness was having a heightened perception of harm from drinking 1-2 drinks daily (OR - some risk=0.48, great risk=0.40). Our findings support policies aimed at multiple levels, starting in the preadolescent years, which incorporate individual, family, and peer factors.