The Prospective Association Between Sipping Alcohol by the Sixth Grade and Later Substance Use

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective: Although there is a clear association between early use of alcohol and short-and long-term adverse outcomes, it is unclear whether consumption of minor amounts of alcohol (less than a full drink) at a young age is prognostic of risk behaviors in later adolescence. Method: Data were taken from 561 students enrolled in an ongoing prospective web-based study on alcohol initiation and progression (55% female; 25% White non-Hispanic). Based on a combination of monthly and semiannual surveys, we coded whether participants sipped alcohol before sixth grade and examined associations between early sipping and alcohol consumption by fall of ninth grade, as well as other indices of problem behavior. Participants also reported on the context of the first sipping event. Results: The prevalence of sipping alcohol by fall of sixth grade was 29.5%. Most participants indicated that their first sip took place at their own home, and the primary source of alcohol was an adult, usually a parent. Youth who sipped alcohol by sixth grade had significantly greater odds of consuming a full drink, getting drunk, and drinking heavily by ninth grade than nonsippers. These associations held even when we controlled for temperamental, behavioral, and environmental factors that contribute to proneness for problem behavior, which suggests that sipping is not simply a marker of underlying risk. Conclusions: Our findings that early sipping is associated with elevated odds of risky behaviors at high school entry dispute the idea of sipping as a protective factor. Offering even just a sip of alcohol may undermine messages about the unacceptability of alcohol consumption for youth. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 76, 212-221, 2015)

Parents Who Supply Sips of Alcohol in Early Adolescence: A Prospective Study of Risk Factors

“…(A), Adolescent report; (P), parent report by guest on May 7, 2018 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/ Downloaded from externalizing problems, peer alcohol use, and alcohol use approval by peers. 8,11,14 In our unadjusted analyses, externalizing problems, adolescent perception of substanceusing peers, and parent perception of substance-using peers, each predicted subsequent parental supply. However, after adjusting for a wide range of familial, parental, peer, and adolescent factors, only parent factors (parental perception of substanceusing peers, home alcohol access, and lenient alcohol-specific rules) retained significant predictive associations.…”

“…9 Sipping has been associated with parental alcohol socialization and lenient alcohol rules, 8,10,11,14 and described as an opportunistic behavior for parents to introduce alcohol in supervised contexts. 8 Consistent with these notions, the only parenting practices associated with supply in the present unadjusted and adjusted analyses were increased home alcohol access and lenient parental alcohol rules (which was nonsignificant after adjusting for capitalization on chance).…”

“…1 Alcohol use often commences with a sip(s)/taste(s) of alcohol, rather than consuming whole drinks. [5][6][7] By age 13, up to 60% of adolescents have had a sip/taste of alcohol 5,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] ; sipping is more prevalent than drinking in this age group. 5,6,10,15 Sipping is associated with increased risk of early adolescent drinking and binge drinking, 12,16 but the area of sipping is under-researched.…”

A Parenting Program to Promote an Alcohol-Free Childhood: Influence on Parents’ Readiness to Prevent Child Sipping

“…The program aimed to train parents to instill and reinforce attitudinal and behavioral norms against any underage use of alcohol, including sipping or tasting by children. The need for such a parenting program is underscored by studies showing that it is common for children to be exposed to actual alcohol use through parental allowance of child sipping or tasting (Andrews et al, 2003;Bush & Iannotti, 1992;Donovan & Molina, 2008;Jackson et al, 2012) and that such early exposure can increase risk of alcohol use and problem drinking during adolescence (Donovan & Molina, 2011;Jackson et al, 2015;Zucker et al, 2008). Key goals of the parenting program were to modify psychological factors (e.g., parental attitude about child sipping) and modify alcoholspecific parenting practices (e.g., offering sips of alcohol to children).…”

Evaluation of an Australian Alcohol Media Literacy Program

“…The upper-elementary school age group was chosen to "inoculate" (Banas & Rains, 2010) students against proalcohol messages before they engage in drinking behaviors, as delaying initiation to drinking can reduce the risk of future alcohol-related harm (Jackson et al, 2015;McMorris et al, 2011). Furthermore, pre-adolescence is a crucial period when alcohol expectancies begin to form, and children are emotionally vulnerable to the persuasive appeals of advertising (Miller et al, 1990;Scull et al, 2014).…”