Sweet sixteen and never been drunk? : adolescent alcohol use, predictors and consequences

Adolescent alcohol use, especially at a young age, has many negative consequences, both on the individual and the societal level. After an introduction describing a conceptual model of predictors and consequences of adolescent alcohol use, the first two chapters in this dissertation report on two studies on alcohol intoxication related admissions of adolescents in Dutch hospitals. Data collected in 2007 and 2008 underline the societal relevance of the problem of adolescent alcohol use. The number of adolescents with alcohol intoxication increases and the symptoms become more severe. \ud \ud In the remaining seven chapters, predictors of adolescent alcohol use are the main topic. The social context of alcohol use is explored in a qualitative study in which adolescents described severe alcohol related incidents they had experienced. In the next study, parents were asked about their support for governmental alcohol control policies. Then an experimental study is described into the impact of alcohol commercials and alcohol product placement in a soap series. The last four studies involve three types of alcohol availability. Regarding economic availability, the prevalence and effects of price discounts in the catering industry were explored. The role of physical availability of alcohol was investigated in a study of private drinking places, focusing their national prevalence and the characteristics of their visitors. A third part of this study involves a large sample questionnaire in which alcohol consumption of adolescent visitors and non-visitors were compared. The last two studies focus on legal availability. These studies involve the shop floor compliance with age restrictions for alcohol sales. The first study investigates compliance levels in the Netherlands in general; the second study addresses the effects of a feedback letter intervention to improve compliance