SynthesisJournal of epidemiology and community health2014
Age of first drinking and adult alcohol problems: systematic review of prospective cohort studies.
Synthesis in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Etiologic, Theory-Based, Ontogenetic Hierarchical Framework of Alcohol Use Disorder: A Translational Systematic Review of Reviews.Psychological bulletin · 2021Pooled it
- Parental Supply of Alcohol in Childhood and Risky Drinking in Adolescence: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2017Pooled it
- Does Industry-Driven Alcohol Marketing Influence Adolescent Drinking Behaviour? A Systematic Review.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2017Pooled it
- Does parental drinking influence children's drinking? A systematic review of prospective cohort studies.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2016Pooled it
- An Examination of the Longer-Term Impact of a Combined Classroom and Parental Intervention on Alcohol-Related Harms and Heavy Episodic Drinking.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2021Trial
- Steps Towards Alcohol Misuse Prevention Programme (STAMPP): a school-based and community-based cluster randomised controlled trial.BMJ open · 2018Trial
- Neurodevelopment of Corticostriatal Circuits and Risk for Alcohol Use During the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Age at first drink below 19 years and all-cause mortality in Chinese older adults: a 10-year prospective cohort study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Social determinants of hazardous alcohol use in a Ugandan population cohort.Global health action · 2025Article
- Alcohol use among adolescents in eight sub-Saharan African countries: evidence from the Global School-based student health survey (2012-2017) using the socio-ecological model.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Child and adolescent mental health burden, policies, and services in high-income countries and areas in the Western Pacific Region.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2025Review
- Lifestyle health behaviors and experience of depression among middle and high school students in South Korea: A comparison between 2010-2013 and 2020-2023.Preventive medicine reports · 2025Article
- Early and risky adolescent alcohol use independently predict alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other drug use in early adulthood in Ireland: a longitudinal analysis of a nationally representative cohort.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Have declines in the prevalence of young adult drinking in English-speaking high-income countries followed declines in youth drinking? A systematic review.Drugs (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Too young to pour: the global crisis of underage alcohol use.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- Association Between GABRG2 and Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol in a French Young Adult Sample.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2025Article
- Sleep-Related Predictors of Risk for Alcohol Use and Related Problems in Adolescents and Young Adults.Alcohol research : current reviews · 2024Review
- Do non-drinking youth drink less alcohol in young adulthood or do they catch up? Findings from a Swedish birth cohort.European journal of public health · 2023Article
- Developmental trajectories of alcohol and cannabis concurrent use in a nationally representative sample of United States youths.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
- The relationship between age at first drink and later risk behaviours during a period of youth drinking decline.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlcohol policies around the world seek to delay the initiation of drinking. This is partly based on the influential idea that earlier initiation is likely to cause adult alcohol problems. This study synthesises robust evidence for this proposition.
methodsSystematic review of prospective cohort studies in which adolescent measurement of age of first drink in general population studies was separated by at least 3 years from adult alcohol outcomes. EMBASE, Medline, PsychINFO and Social Policy and Practice were searched for eligible studies, alongside standard non-database data collection activities. Data were extracted on included study methods and findings. Risk of bias and confounding was assessed for individual studies and a narrative synthesis of findings was performed.
resultsThe main finding was the meagre evidence base available. Only five studies were eligible for inclusion in this review. The existence of effects of age of first drink on adult drinking and related problems were supported, but not at all strongly, in some included studies, and not in others. Rigorous control for confounding markedly attenuates or eliminates any observed effects.
conclusionsThere is no strong evidence that starting drinking earlier leads to adult alcohol problems and more research is needed to address this important question. Policy makers should, therefore, reconsider the justification for delaying initiation as a strategy to address levels of adult alcohol problems in the general population, while also addressing the serious acute harms produced by early drinking.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.