What Influences Teen Drinking?
A teen’s decision to participate in illegal, underage drinking is not a simple one, although it may seem like it at the time. There are several factors that go into making that choice, including family history, academic pressure, learned coping strategies, peers and friends, and what parents say and do. Hispanic youth have the added factor of bicultural stress informing the choice to drink or not, but all teens share many of the same life experiences. One of the most important of these is the group of young people they see and associate with every day. New research tells us that friends are important when it comes to the decision to drink.
