Teen tippling clues grownup imbibing.

• Position: Your Life - Brief article

A widely used index for assessing adolescent drinking-related problems has been found to be effective at predicting the future alcohol dependence of teenage drinkers, according to a study at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, which also found that this association was stronger for adolescent female drinkers.

Researchers used the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index for their study. RAPI is a self-report questionnaire on the frequency with which an adolescent has experienced 23 consequences of drinking alcohol, such as getting into a fight with a friend or family member, in the preceding 18 months. RAPI is employed widely to assess adolescent drinking-related problems, but this is the first time its predictive powers have been examined on a longitudinal--in this case, seven-year--basis.

It was found that some study participants with high RAPI scores did not become alcohol dependent and that...