New research links drinking by young people to risk of injury through violence

Teenagers who drink alcohol are at higher risk of becoming victims of violence, a Cardiff University study has found. A team from the School of Dentistry's Violence Research Group studied drinking habits in children aged 11-16 in England. They found not only a link between drink and aggression but also that children who drank were more likely to be hit, even if they weren't violent themselves.  Medical News Today  Journal of Adolescence abstract

Professor Jonathan Shepherd, who led the research, said a lot of previous alcohol-related violence work had focussed on the offenders rather than the vulnerable. His team is calling for more prevention work by parents and teachers in the first two years of secondary school by capitalising on the "teachable moment" represented by period immediately after missing school of injury because of drunkenness.

Previous work by Professor Shepherd has shown drinkers may be more at risk of violence because of reduced physical co-ordination, poor decision-making in threatening situations and isolation while out late at night. He said: "This new study seems to be the first to show a direct link between alcohol misuse and vulnerability to injury, independent of any link between drinking and fighting. There now needs to be much more effort put into reducing alcohol misuse in order to reduce injury."  Cardiff University press release