The Longitudinal Effects of Age of Alcohol Initiation on School Outcomes

Previous research has demonstrated initiation of alcohol during adolescence has a negative effect on both school attendance and missed instruction due to behavior. Utilizing longitudinal data comprised of primarily Black American youth between ages 11 and 18 (N = 931), both the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol initiation were analyzed using a piecewise growth curve model. Results indicated that alcohol initiation negatively impacted school absences, but this effect was unique and independent of the age at which alcohol was initiated. The number of days of missed instruction due to school violations was also negatively impacted, but the effect was found to be more detrimental to those youth initiating alcohol at a younger age. By age 18, early alcohol initiators had a significantly greater number of days of missed instruction due to school violations, yet did not differ in the number of school absences. Implications of the results are discussed.