Consequences of Early-Onset Alcohol Dependence.

Board member Andy Finch forwards a link to an article on the consequences of early-onset alcoholism (before age 25) relative to late-onset alcoholism (after age 30). The article uses data from the NIAAA's National Epidemiologic Study of Alcohol Related Conditions (NESARC) and its Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview (DSM-IV version), a national probability sample of the U.S. in 2001-2002.

Among the consequences reported, those with early onset:

• were less likely to have sought treatment,
• had greater odds of multiple dependence episodes and episodes of greater than one year, and
• had more dependence symptoms.

More can be found in the article itself. Please feel free to discuss the implications of this research for treatment, intervention, or anything else related to adolescent substance abuse treatment and coordination in the comments.