Author(s): Priyanka Shukla and Dr. Indu Bansal

Abstract:
The term ‘adolescent’ is an adjective describing a young person in the process of developing from a child into an adult and dates from the late 18th century. It is derived from the Latin verb ‘adolescere’ which means ‘to grow up’. Alcohol use and other risk-taking behaviours such as smoking, substance use and risky sexual behaviour emerge in adolescence and tend to cluster together. Heavy alcohol consumption in late adolescence appears to persist into adulthood and is associated with alcohol problems, including dependence, premature death and diminished work capacity. Early identification of adolescent risk factors may be helpful in preventing and/or attenuating risk. There is a need for high-quality long-term prospective cohort studies to investigate the long-term consequences of adolescent drinking and further work is needed to identify the most effective intervention strategies. This short paper will review patterns of drinking in adolescence and the risk factors that are thought to predispose to the development of alcohol use in this age group.