Alcohol Awareness Month and Student Alcohol Trends

Posted on March 5, 2021

Alcohol Awareness Month is an annual initiative designed to raise awareness about alcohol trends, use, and addiction and provide resources for those in need and those community coalitions, parents, and educators trying to help others. At Pride Surveys, alcohol use and abuse are some of our more frequently surveyed questions for students and across community coalitions. 

While the below data looks at 2015 to 2019, Pride Surveys will be paying especially close attention to the 2020 data once available to see alcohol trends and changes due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantines. Preliminary data suggests that students are spending more time at home and have less access to alcohol than they normally would due to the pandemic. 

For additional information, the CDC provides significant resources and data for alcohol use and prevention, mental health and stress impacts on alcohol use, and more, including pandemic considerations. 

Alcohol Consumption Amongst Students

Recent Pride Surveys data reveals several alcohol trends amongst students from 6th to 12th grade between the years of 2015 to 2019. 

One positive trend for those who said “yes” to consuming alcohol over the past year is that, with the exception of a 1.2% increase for eighth grade students, all other grades from six to twelve show a decrease in consumption over the course of five years. That said, there was a significant increase in 12th grade alcohol use from 2018 to 2019, with a 3.3% increase in those reporting “yes” to use in the past year. 

Past 30-day use (i.e., when students report that they have used a substance at least once in the past 30 days), is viewed as the best measure of ongoing use of that substance.

For alcohol use, most “yes” responses decreased over the five-year period however, there was again an increase in 12th-grade consumption between 2018 and 2019, with 4% more reporting “yes.” 

Access to Alcohol

Another question on the substance abuse student surveys relates to how easy it is for students to get alcohol. Pride Surveys is happy to report an overall year-over-year decrease of underage youth being able to obtain alcohol. There are specific laws for “Social Hosting,” or knowingly providing minors with access to alcohol, which vary by state, and something that coalitions can work with their partners to implement to hold parents accountable for serving underage youth.  

Drinking and Driving/Riding

Pride Surveys data has also shown a decrease in drinking and driving year over year in addition to a decrease in riding in a car or other vehicle with someone who has been drinking. Of concern, however, data shows that 10.4% of females and 7.4% of males surveyed in 2019 rode in a car at least once with someone who had been drinking. 

For plentiful resources and safety measures for community coalitions, parents, and educators as it relates to student alcohol trends, awareness, and use, please visit our 2020 Alcohol Awareness Month blog post.

Pride Surveys features a significant number of online and paper Substance Abuse Surveys, including surveys on alcohol awareness and use, in addition to other topics that are critical to community coalitions and schools. Please call us today at 800-279-6361 or fill out our quick online contact form.

Sources:

https://www.ncsl.org/research/financial-services-and-commerce/social-host-liability-for-underage-drinking-statutes.aspx 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/stress-coping/alcohol-use.html