The
DASIS Report: Characteristics of Primary Alcohol Admissions
by Age of First Use of Alcohol: 2002
Highlights:
- Age
of first use in SAMHSA's Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) is defined
differently for alcohol than for other drugs. For alcohol, age of
first use is defined as the age of first intoxication. For other drugs,
age of first use is defined as the age at which the respective drug
was first used.
- Of
the 683,000 primary alcohol treatment admissions aged 21 or older
admitted to substance abuse treatment in 2002, more than one third
reported their age of first alcohol intoxication as between 15 and
17 years old.
- Primary
alcohol treatment admissions with an age of first alcohol use prior
to age 12 were more likely than all other age groups to have had five
or more prior substance abuse treatment episodes. Among primary alcohol
admissions aged 21 or older, the average age of first alcohol use
for males was 16.7 years old and for females 18.0 years old.
- The
average age of first alcohol use varied greatly by racial and ethnic
group with American Indian / Alaska Native primary alcohol treatment
admissions starting at the earliest age (mean age 15.1 years old),
followed by White (mean age 16.6 years old), Black (mean age 17.2
years old), and Asian/ Pacific Islander admissions (mean age 17.9
years old). Hispanic primary alcohol treatment admissions reported
the latest age of first use: 19.7 years old.
Reports
on alcohol
Reports
on other drugs
Reports
on substance abuse treatment
Reports
on other topics
Other
OAS publications and services
This Short
Report, The DASIS Report: Characteristics
of Primary Alcohol Admissions by Age of First Use of Alcohol: 2002, is
based on the Drug and Alcohol Services Information
System (DASIS), the primary source of national data on substance abuse
treatment. DASIS is conducted by the Office
of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA).
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