Objective: To explore whether people who start drinking at an early age are more likely to have been in physical fights after drinking, independent of respondent history of alcohol dependence and frequency of heavy drinking.
Design: In 1992, the US Census Bureau interviewed, in person, 42 862 randomly selected adults age 18 or older, mean age 44, household response rate 91.9%, and in-person response rate 97.4%. The survey included questions regarding the age respondents started drinking, frequency of heavy drinking, and whether respondents were ever or in the past year in a physical fight after drinking alcohol.
Results: Relative to respondents who did not begin drinking until age 21 or older, those who started drinking before age 17 were 2.9 to 4.1 times more likely ever in their lives, and at least 3 times more likely in the past year, to have been in a fight after drinking. These relationships were found even after controlling for personal history of alcohol dependence, years of drinking, frequency of heavy drinking, smoking, drug use, and other personal characteristics associated with the age respondents started drinking.
Conclusions: An early age of drinking onset was associated with alcohol-related violence not only among persons under age 21 but among adults as well. Physicians need to query adolescent patients about the age they began drinking and counsel them about the increased risks associated with early drinking onset, such as an increased risk of being involved in alcohol-related violence.