Risks associated with alcohol-positive status among adolescents in the emergency department: A matched case-control study

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine alcohol use, alcohol-re lated problems, other risk-taking behaviors, and parental monitoring in ado lescents who tested positive for alcohol in an emergency department. Study design: A matched case-control design was implemented for adolescents presenting to a pediatric emergency department who were screened for alcoh ol use. An alcohol-positive sample (N = 150) was compared with a matched al cohol-negative sample (N = 150) for alcohol use, alcohol problems, depressi on, smoking, risk-taking behavior, and parental monitoring. Results: The alcohol-positive group reported significantly higher drinking frequency, drinking problems, prior alcohol-related injuries, and episodes of driving after drinking and riding with a drinking driver than the alcoho l-negative adolescents. The same pattern was true for depressed mood, reckl ess behaviors, poor grades in school, and daily smoking. The parents of alc ohol-positive teens reported their teens had come home intoxicated more oft en than parents of alcohol-negative teens. There were no differences betwee n parent groups in monitoring of teens. Conclusion: Adolescents who test positive for alcohol in an emergency depar tment are a high-risk group who meet the criteria for indicated prevention. Screening for alcohol abuse is recommended.