Alcohol and drug use in a Scottish cohort: 10 years on

This paper reports the findings from a survey which elicited detailed information on patterns of alcohol use amongst a cohort of young adults. It is the fourth wave of data collection in a longitudinal study which began in 1979 on a study group of 1036 15-16 year olds attending schools in the Lothian region of Scotland. The longitudinal analysis presented here suggests that for this cohort, patterns of alcohol use at age 15-16 bear little relation to those at age 24-25 years. These findings are discussed, and compared in detail with the more limited alcohol data from the larger-scale National Child Development Study.