Teen drinking indirectly leads to physical consequences later in life, study says
A recent study has found that misusing alcohol as a teenager can indirectly lead to lasting physical consequences and reduced life satisfaction up to two decades later, according to its lead author, Angela Pascale, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University.
She said this study’s focus on physical health effects sets it apart from other research on teen drinking that usually analyzes its long-term effects on mental health.
Pascale said the study was strengthened by its analysis of a sample of twins that allowed the researchers to account for genetic and environmental factors that might impact the study’s conclusions.
This data sample was derived from a long-term study involving twins, conducted by Jaakko Kaprio, an author of the study and professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Helsinki, Pascale said.
“A twin sample allows us to strengthen our conclusions from the study by examining whether the results found between adolescent alcohol misuse, alcohol problems and health-related outcomes in later adulthood remain significant after controlling for these shared familial factors,” she said.
In addition to Kaprio, she said this study included several researchers from various institutions including SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and Indiana University. The study also includes Jessica E. Salvatore of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine as an author.
Pascale said the study’s methodology included the use of serial mediation models, which detect how alcohol misuse during adolescence sequentially impacts a mediator factor such as young adult alcohol problems, which then impacts early midlife alcohol issues.
The serial mediation models were processed again in a co-twin observational model to confirm that the results remained valid even when genetic and environmental factors were constant, she said.
Pascale said the study found that adolescent alcohol misuse may have a less direct impact on lifelong well-being than previous literature suggests.
The study states that teenage alcohol misuse primarily causes increased young adult and early midlife drinking problems, which then act as factors in physical health and life satisfaction metrics.
“This was surprising as other studies have found adolescent alcohol misuse directly influences later life substance use and mental-health related outcomes and thus expected similar patterns for physical health and life satisfaction outcomes,” she said.
Additionally, Pascale said the connection between youth’s alcohol use and lifelong health was not especially strong, meaning there may be other factors at play, but she also said the study still reinforces the idea that alcohol misuse during teenage years can cause consequences across several years of development.
“These findings suggest future research to focus on identifying factors that may alter the pathways between adolescent alcohol misuse and subsequent later-life health outcomes,” she said.
Revealing that alcohol use as a teen has indirect physical consequences on people later in life points to the need for alcohol prevention programs that assist young adults in overcoming misuse of alcohol, Pascale said.
Additionally, she mentioned programs that provide this alcohol education while also encouraging physical exercise that can target risk factors that push adolescents toward alcohol including sensation-seeking and anxiety.
“The pathways from scientific findings to changes in public policies can often take years,” Pascale said. “Our current findings add to the scientific basis suggesting that efforts to reduce teen drinking may pay health dividends far into the future.”
