Number 3.13 February 2005
for parents
Download this fact sheet: How alcohol affects teenagers: for parents [PDF: 49 KB]
Introduction
Research shows that young people who drink alcohol do so in different ways than adults. For example, young people are more likely to drink a lot of alcohol in a short space of time. As a result they are more likely to suffer from the dangers of alcohol abuse. These include driving under the influence of alcohol, accidental injuries, violent behaviour and risky sexual behaviour.
However, there is another danger for young people who drink and it relates to the effects of alcohol on their brain. Teenagers who drink alcohol may damage their brain and this can cause problems for them in the future.
This fact sheet outlines the current research on the effect of alcohol on the young brain.
The developing brain
The parts of the brain that undergo dramatic changes during the teenage years are called the frontal lobe and hippocampus. These parts of the brain are associated with motivation, impulse control and addiction. It is thought that teenagers are more interested in alcohol and other drugs because of the changes that are happening to these parts of their brain.
Alcohol affects adults and adolescents differently
- Alcohol affects adolescents differently from adults in the following ways:
- Adolescents seem to be able to stay awake and drink for longer than adults.
- Adolescents appear to be more sensitive to the learning and memory problems that can be caused by alcohol. They are more likely than adults to suffer from lack of judgement and memory loss.
- Adolescents need only drink half as much alcohol as adults to suffer the same effects.
This may also be why adolescents who abuse alcohol tend to “binge drink”. Binge drinking is drinking heavily over a short period of time or drinking continuously over a number of days or weeks.
Binge drinking is dangerous for the brain because of the heavy exposure to alcohol while drinking and also the damage caused by the hangover. It has been found that withdrawal from alcohol (hangovers) can be just as damaging to the brain as heavy exposure to alcohol.
Effects of alcohol on memory and learning
The parts of the brain that are affected by alcohol are also involved in memory and emotions, and damage to them could be responsible for:
- memory problems
- dependence
- inability to learn
- depression
- problems with verbal skills.
Drinking alcohol regularly makes it hard for the brain to be able to store new information as memories. It also makes it difficult to remember what was just learned. Drinking alcohol during the teenage years may cause permanent damage to these parts of the brain and lead to memory and learning problems.
Increased chance of dependence
The changes that occur to the brain during the teenage years make teenagers more vulnerable to the addictive actions of drugs. People who first use alcohol before age 15 are five times more likely to abuse alcohol than those who first use alcohol at age 21 or older. This increased use leads to a greater chance of alcohol-related problems in later life including becoming dependent on alcohol.
Rather than outgrow alcohol use young people who binge drink are significantly more likely to have drinking problems as adults.
Effects of alcohol on social development
If young people begin to drink alcohol at an early age, it can affect their social development. It can influence the things they like to do and the way that they cope with problems. For example:
- they may spend their time drinking instead of participating in sport or other activities
- they may turn to alcohol as a form of coping with problems and be more open to using other substances.
The learning difficulties caused by teenage drinking result in poorer performance at school and an increased risk of social problems, depression, suicidal thoughts and violence.
What can be done?
Current research suggests that heavy drinking during adolescence might permanently alter brain development. Even if a teenager stops drinking as an adult it might be too late to reverse the damage that might already have been done. For these reasons, the research suggests that adolescents should not drink alcohol.
References
De Bellis MD, Clark DB, Beers SR, Soloff PH, Boring AM, Hall J, Kersh A & Keshavan MS 2000 “Hippocampal volume in adolescent-onset alcohol use disorders”, American Journal of Psychiatry 157, pp. 737–44
Spear LP 2002 “The adolescent brain and the college drinker: Biological basis of propensity to use and misuse alcohol”, Journal of Studies on Alcohol Suppl(14), pp. 71–81
Toumbourou JW, Rowland B & Jefferies A 2005 “Could an alcohol abstinence focus through childhood and adolescence reduce alcohol-related harm?” DrugInfo Clearinghouse prevention research evaluation report 13, West Melbourne: Australian Drug Foundation
White AM & Swartzwelder HS 2004 “Hippocampal function during adolescence: A unique target of ethanol effects”, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1021, pp. 206–20
White AM 2003 Substance use and adolescent brain development”, Youth Studies Australia 22:1, pp. 39–45