Adolescent Drinking and Delinquent Activities: Associations and Gender Differences

A thorough understanding of adolescent drinking and delinquent behaviour is required in order to implement early prevention and intervention programs in schools. Broadly based on the common cause model of adolescent deviance, this study investigated and compared, across genders, the prevalence and inter-relationships of various indicators of adolescent drinking and delinquency. Participants were 312 secondary school students (aged 13-17, 57.7% male) in Canberra, Australia, who completed an anonymous survey comprising the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Australian Self-Reported Delinquency Scale - Revised. We found very few gender differences in drinking and delinquency patterns, and noted medium-to-strong associations among various dimensions of adolescent drinking and delinquent activities. Resulting implications for school prevention programs are considered.