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The
NSDUH Report: Alcohol Dependence or Abuse and Age at First Use
Highlights:
- SAMHSA's National Survey
on Drug Use & Health defines alcohol dependence or abuse using criteria
specified in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). These criteria
include such symptoms as recurrent alcohol use resulting in physical
danger, trouble with the law due to alcohol use, increased tolerance
to alcohol, and giving up or reducing other important activities in
favor of alcohol use.
- In 2003, almost 74% of adults
age 21 or older reported that they had started drinking alcohol before the current
legal drinking age of 21: 4% started drinking before age 12; 14% started between
ages 12-14; 33% started between ages 15-17; and 22% started drinking between ages
18-20.
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Among the 14 million adults aged 21 or older who were classified as having past
year alcohol dependence or abuse, more than 13 million (95%) had started drinking
alcohol before age 21.
- In
SAMHSA's 2003 National Survey on Drug Use & Health, persons reporting first
use of alcohol before age 15 were more than 5 times as likely to report past year
alcohol dependence or abuse than persons who first used alcohol at age 21 or older
(16% vs. 3%).
This Short
Report, The NSDUH Report:
Alcohol Dependence or Abuse and Age at First Use, is based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug
Use and Health conducted by the Office of Applied
Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA). SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and
consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse and for selected mental health measures in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, age 12 and older.
SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use & Health also provides estimates
for drug use and for selected mental health measures by State.
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