Overestimation of Drinking Norms and its Association with Alcohol Consumption in Apprentices

Aims: To investigate associations of normative misperceptions and drinking behaviors in apprentices, complementing the previous literature on university students. Methods: A survey in a defined region of northern Germany was carried out among 1124 apprentices attending vocational schools. Using items from the short form of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C), drinking behaviors and normative perceptions of drinking in the reference group of same-gender apprentices were assessed. Demographic, smoking- and drinking-related predictors for normative misperceptions were explored. Results: Personal drinking behavior was positively correlated with perceived norms, both for drinking frequency (males: Kendall's τ=0.33, P<0.01; females: τ=0.22, P<0.01) and drinking quantity (males: Kendall's τ=0.39, P<0.01; females: τ=0.25, P<0.01). Alcohol use disorders according to AUDIT-C cut-offs were more prevalent in subjects who overestimated drinking quantity in their reference group than in those who correctly estimated or underestimated drinking quantity (male: P<0.01; relative risk (RR) 1.78; female: P<0.01; RR 1.65). Concerning drinking frequency, this difference was only found in males (P