Teenage alcohol use

D

Dinosaur

Rational Skeptic
Valued Senior Member
My sample is probably too small to be significant, but I have known several adults who were often drunk as teenagers.

All seemed to have reduced mental abilities.

It is possible that they drank as a result of already being below the average level of intelligence?

Alternatively could excess alcohol consumption during teenage years has an adverse effect on the development of cognitive functions?

Have there been any studies of teenage alcohol abuse?

I have known some folks who became alcoholic when they were adults & did not seem cognitively dysfunctional when sober.
 
Dinosaur said:
My sample is probably too small to be significant, but I have known several adults who were often drunk as teenagers.

All seemed to have reduced mental abilities.

It is possible that they drank as a result of already being below the average level of intelligence?

Alternatively could excess alcohol consumption during teenage years has an adverse effect on the development of cognitive functions?

Have there been any studies of teenage alcohol abuse?

I have known some folks who became alcoholic when they were adults & did not seem cognitively dysfunctional when sober.
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I've known people who do not seem cognitively dysfunctional even when drunk.
 
You'd need a large sample size.
And even then, you could still only demonstrate an association, you couldn't demonstrate a causation. It could always be a third factor (say, poverty, family history, geography, etc.), relating to both. i.e. A causes B and A causes C, but A and C are not causally related.
 
From exChemist Post 2
I've known people who do not seem cognitively dysfunctional even when drunk.
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For many cognitive & physical purposes, a person only needs perhaps 30-40% of his full capabilities.

Those who regularly drink a lot learn to cope with normal activities after drinking quite a bit.​

I seldom drank while in high school & college due to competing in sports & wanting to be in the best physical condition possible for me.

On a few occasions when I had a drink or two & a blood alcohol level of perhaps .03-.04, I had occasion to play table tennis with a friend. When neither of us had anything to drink, our scores were close.

If we played 5 games, one of us would win 3 of the five, with the winner seldom winning any game by more than 2-3 points.​

If I had 2-3 drinks & he had a pint or more, I seemed drunk & he seemed sober.

When we played table tennis under those conditions, I easily won all the games, but seemed a bit clumsy; He he appeared to be graceful & adept in his mannerisms while most of his shots went off the table or into the net.
​
I have had no comparable experiences with cognitive functioning, but strongly suspect that tests of cognitive abilities would would be similar to the above.
 
Dinosaur said:
From exChemist Post 2For many cognitive & physical purposes, a person only needs perhaps 30-40% of his full capabilities.

Those who regularly drink a lot learn to cope with normal activities after drinking quite a bit.​

I seldom drank while in high school & college due to competing in sports & wanting to be in the best physical condition possible for me.

On a few occasions when I had a drink or two & a blood alcohol level of perhaps .03-.04, I had occasion to play table tennis with a friend. When neither of us had anything to drink, our scores were close.

If we played 5 games, one of us would win 3 of the five, with the winner seldom winning any game by more than 2-3 points.​

If I had 2-3 drinks & he had a pint or more, I seemed drunk & he seemed sober.

When we played table tennis under those conditions, I easily won all the games, but seemed a bit clumsy; He he appeared to be graceful & adept in his mannerisms while most of his shots went off the table or into the net.
​
I have had no comparable experiences with cognitive functioning, but strongly suspect that tests of cognitive abilities would would be similar to the above.
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Possibly true. I had in mind my old tutor at university. Some of these dons used to put away incredible amounts. But then he probably had so much in surplus that even firing on 5 cylinders he outclassed most of us.
 
Dinosaur said:
Alternatively could excess alcohol consumption during teenage years has an adverse effect on the development of cognitive functions?
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My understanding is that teens and young adults can't process alcohol very well--up to the age of 25. As an older person, I don't drink because alcohol doesn't affect me the same as when I was younger. I don't get much from it.
 
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