This observation suggests a fast shift to frequent heavier drinking for many young people. In addition, the surveys indicate that extreme binge drinking (i.e., consumption of 10 or selleck kinase inhibitor more or 15 or more drinks in a row) is a problem among 12th graders (this variable was not assessed among 8th and 10th graders). Thus, 10.5 percent of high school seniors reported consuming 10 or more drinks in a row, and 5.6 percent reported consuming 15 or more drinks in a row in the past 2 weeks (Patrick et al. 2013). Alcohol use differs not only by age but also by demographic subgroups, including gender and race/ethnicity (see table 1). In 8th grade, girls tend to have somewhat higher rates of alcohol use (i.e., 13 percent in the past 30 days) than do boys (12 percent).

Among older students, however, this ratio is reversed, with 38 percent of female and 42 percent of male 12th graders reporting alcohol use in the past 30 days. This gender difference continues into adulthood, with men consistently using alcohol at higher rates compared with women (Johnston et al. 2012; Wilsnack et al. 2000). A similar interaction seems to exist between grade and race/ethnicity (Wallace et al. 2003). Thus, among 8th graders, Hispanic youth tend to report a greater prevalence of alcohol consumption in the last 12 months (36 percent) or last 30 days (18 percent), as well as of being drunk in the last 30 days (6 percent) and binge drinking in the past 2 weeks (10 percent) than do both White and African American youth.

By 12th grade, however, White adolescents have the highest prevalence levels of the three racial/ethnic groups on all alcohol use measures, African American adolescents have the lowest levels, and Hispanics have intermediate levels. For example, for binge-drinking, prevalence rates among 12th graders are 26 percent for Whites, 11 percent for African Americans, and 21 percent for Hispanics. Some, but not all, of these race/ethnicity differences in alcohol use among 12th graders are attributable to differential high-school dropout rates among the different groups. Thus, dropout rates tend to be higher among racial/ethnic minority youth, and alcohol and other drug (AOD) use tends to be higher among school dropouts than among those staying in school (Bachman et al. 2008). Overall, alcohol use among adolescents and young adults has been declining to the lowest levels in recent decades, as shown by the trends in self-reported alcohol use in the past 12 months and drunkenness in the past 30 days (see figure Batimastat 1) (Johnston et al. 2012; Patrick and Schulenberg 2010). Similar trends have been observed for alcohol use in the past 30 days and binge drinking in the past 2 weeks. These historical shifts in AOD use can be attributed to multiple influences.