Original articleLow perceived chances for success in life and binge drinking among inner-city minority youth
Section snippets
Binge drinking during early adolescence
Most research on binge drinking has been conducted with older youth, particularly college undergraduates 8, 9. Less is known about binge drinking among youth during the first years of adolescence. The existing research suggests that there is a great deal of diversity in the early patterns and developmental trajectories of binge drinking over the course of adolescence 10, 11, 12. For example, using a school-based sample of primarily Hispanic and white adolescents from grades 7 to 12 (N = 1918),
Methods
Students from 13 schools in New York City participated in the present study. Recruitment of schools began by first obtaining permission from school district personnel, and then from individual school principals. School district personnel were approached in four boroughs of New York City: Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens (Staten Island was excluded because it is largely white.). Schools were eligible to participate if they were located in a predominantly minority community and had at least
Results
In the 7th grade, 5% of youth believed their chances of graduating high school were unlikely; 6% believed their chances of attending college were unlikely; 5% responded that their chances of getting a job that pays well were unlikely; 6% believed it was unlikely that they would get a job they enjoyed; 8% reported that their chances of having a happy family life were unlikely; 8% responded that their chances of staying in good health most of the time were unlikely; 9% believed their chances of
Discussion
Like the US population at large, the adolescent population is becoming increasingly ethnically and racially diverse and will continue to do so for decades to come [20]. However, few studies have examined the etiology of binge drinking among minority youth. The present study examined the relationship between low perceived chances for success in life and binge drinking in a sample of predominantly disadvantaged inner-city minority youth. These variables were chosen based on the hypothesis that
Conclusions
The present findings suggest that young people's perceptions of their ability to achieve later success in various adaptive life goals (e.g., career, education, family, and social life) decrease considerably during early adolescence. Furthermore, these changes occur at a time in life when rates of binge drinking typically increase. Although low perceived chances for success may play a role in the initiation and escalation of binge drinking during early adolescence, it appears that the
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by funds from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA12945) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA14964).
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