Young people and drinking: results of an English national survey.

An account is presented of a survey of self-reported drinking habits and beliefs about alcohol amongst a national sample of teenagers in England. Fieldwork was conducted during 1988 and 1989 and involved 27 systematically selected state secondary (high) schools. Respondents were virtually all aged 14-16. The majority of teenagers reported drinking only moderate amounts of alcohol. Even so, a third of the males and nearly a fifth of the females reported having at some time consumed the equivalent of five and a half pints of beer on a single occasion. Factual knowledge about alcohol was not high and more than half of the study group supported a reduction in the legal minimum age at which alcohol may be purchased in licensed premises.