Youthful Drinking in Northern Ireland and Scotland: Preliminary results from a comparative study

Available evidence suggests that drinking habits in Northern Ireland are markedly different from those in Britain. A cross-cultural study was conducted of self-reported alcohol use amongst 1172 young people aged 11–12 and 14–16 years old in selected areas of Northern Ireland and Scotland. The results of this study supported earlier findings: the Northern Irish teenagers were less likely than their counterparts in the Scottish study group to have consumed an alcoholic drink. However, the findings also showed that the young drinkers in the Northern Irish group were more likely than their Scottish peers to be heavy drinkers and to consume alcohol in contexts associated with possible dangers, i.e. drinking in peer groups in uncontrolled settings. The importance of these findings in the prevention of youthful alcohol misuse is explored.