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Abstract
Aims To understand the onset of alcohol use and first intoxication as a function of age, sex and a set of risk factors with the purpose of improving the timing and targeting of preventive interventions.
Design and participants Data were derived from a nationally representative cross‐sectional study on substance use of 7094 secondary school students aged 11–18 conducted in 1999 in the Netherlands.
Measurements Questionnaires concerning alcohol use, sociodemographic and behavioural variables were administered in classes.
Findings Survival analysis showed that by the age of 13 years, 50% of schoolchildren have started drinking, and by age 15 years, 50% have been drunk. Late onset of alcohol use was associated with a lower probability of first intoxication: the risk dropped by a factor 0.81 per year. Early onset of alcohol use was associated with sociodemographic variables, other ‘problem behaviours' like truancy and the drinking behaviour of peers and parents. Respondents with parents who discouraged or forbade alcohol use were at lower risk of early onset of alcohol use. More boys than girls started drinking and got drunk at an early age, and their risk profiles differed.
Conclusions Prevention activities should start at the young age of 11 or 12 years, should be sensitive to differences between girls and boys and should involve the parents.