Perceptions of alcohol use in UK 12–14 year olds

A continuing challenge in the design of effective interventions to prevent adolescents’ alcohol misuse is understanding adolescent drinking behaviour. Although previous research has indicated a number of factors that might predict drinking behaviour, there has been less qualitative exploration of adolescents’ own views. The purpose of this paper is to gain a further understanding of adolescents’ views towards alcohol use and the types of environment in which adolescents drink alcohol.

A qualitative design was employed with eight focus groups conducted in groups of 3–5 with 27 adolescents (12 girls and 15 boys) aged between 12 and 14.

Thematic analysis identified overarching themes evident across groups suggesting key influences on adolescent drinking behaviour are “social norms”, “enjoyment of alcohol”, “images” and “creation of drinking spaces”.

This research highlights the importance of environments, parents, friends and peers in understanding adolescent’s alcohol use.

The implications of this research suggest that interventions should consider targeting peer groups.

These themes highlight the importance of more socially based interventions.

This paper explores adolescents’ own views of their drinking behaviours.