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Availability of Alcohol May Influence Risky Behaviors

by Adeline Dorcas on Sep 6 2018 2:42 PM

Availability of Alcohol May Influence Risky Behaviors
Alcohol access associated with turning 21 years old may have a significant impact on risky behaviors, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in Contemporary Economic Policy.
The analysis of national survey data //from the Add Health (a school-based study of the health-related behaviors of adolescents and their outcomes in young adulthood) found evidence that Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) laws produce sharp differences in alcohol consumption and a variety of risky behaviors related to alcohol use for youths on either side of the age 21 cutoff.

The MLDA reduces binge drinking by approximately five percentage points as well as a variety of other consumption measures. For males, there are marked increases in reports of drunk driving, risky sexual activities, violence, and interpersonal problems with friends.

More research is needed to determine whether these results indicate a need to change the MLDA to age 18 or 25 or some other age.

Source-Eurekalert


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