Solitary drinkers more likely to abuse alcohol

Though the underground parties of high schoolers are still cause for concern, a recent study suggests that teenagers who drink alone have higher risks of developing problems. 

In the upcoming issue of the journal Clinical Psychological Science, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Pitt will publish a study that followed adolescents’ drinking habits and outcomes. The 709 participants were collected from the Pittsburgh Adolescent Alcohol Research Center, and they were first interviewed when they were between the ages of 12 and 18. The individuals were later assessed for alcohol use disorders when they turned 25.

Kasey Creswell, the lead author of the study, said in a press release that individuals drinking non-socially are often doing so after a conflict has occurred.

Recent reports published by the Surgeon General state that 50 percent of all 15-year-olds will have had at least one drink.

“They seem to be using alcohol to self-medicate as a way to cope with negative emotions and, importantly, this pattern of drinking places them at high risk to escalate their alcohol use and develop alcohol problems in adulthood,” Creswell said.

The study reported that approximately 39 percent of the sample were solitary drinkers. This group was 50 percent more likely to develop alcohol dependence by age 25.

Carnegie Mellon stated that this was the first study focusing on the impact of solitary drinking during adolescence. Previous studies often compared the quantity or frequency of drinking between solitary and social drinkers.

Creswell researches the social mechanisms of addiction, primarily in alcohol and cigarette use. In June, she was the senior author of an article published in the journal Emotion. That study had examined the effects of alcohol on discomfort and emotional displays of white individuals in interracial encounters. Intoxicated individuals showed no difference of discomfort based on the composition of their social group, while their sober control groups did.