Adolescent Health Behaviors Predict Adult Behaviors and Consequences

Two
cohort studies in Finland examined how adolescent tobacco and alcohol
use influence both adult use of these substances and related consequences.

In one study of 903 students followed from age 15 through
28, adolescent drinking predicted adult drinking. Further,
both early alcohol and tobacco use predicted later smoking.
The prevalence of smoking at age 28 among those who had
not smoked at age 15 was significantly greater for those
who had drunk, compared with those who had not drunk,
during adolescence (27% versus 18%).

The
other study included a population-based sample of 10,943 people
whose data from a questionnaire on substance use was gathered at
age 14 and then linked to national crime and hospital registries
covering the subsequent 17–18 years. Analyses were adjusted
for social class, family type (two-parent or single-parent), school
performance, and other substance use.

• Men
  who had been occasionally or often intoxicated at age 14, compared
  with those who had never been intoxicated, were significantly
  more likely as adults to have a drinking-while-intoxicated (DWI)
  offense (odds ratios, ORs, 1.7 and 2.9, respectively) and to
  be treated in a hospital for addiction (ORs 2.5 and 7.5, respectively).
• Early
  smoking was also significantly associated with later DWI and
  hospital addiction treatment among men (OR 1.5 for experimental
  and 4.3 for daily use and DWI; OR 4.5 for daily use and hospitalization).
• Women
  who had been often intoxicated at age 14 were more likely to have
  a later DWI offense (OR 7.4, P=0.09). All other findings
  for women were non-significant.

Comments:

These studies suggest
that adolescent risk behaviors continue into adulthood, and that one
risk behavior can lead to other risk behaviors and to serious consequences
later in life. These findings highlight the importance of preventing
alcohol and tobacco use in adolescence to avoid serious problems—including
tobacco dependence, driving while intoxicated, and addiction—in
adulthood.

Richard
Saitz, MD, MPH

Reference:

Paavola M, Vartiainen
E, Haukkala A. Smoking, alcohol use, and physical activity: a 13-year
longitudinal study ranging from adolescence into adulthood. J
Adol Health. 2004;35(3):238–244.
(view
abstract)

Riala K, Hakko H, Isohanni, M,
et al. Teenage smoking and substance use as predictors of severe alcohol
problems in late adolescence and in young adulthood. J Adol Health.
2004;35(3):245–254.
(view
abstract)