Drinking Behaviour of Adolescents: Debuts and Practices

The problem of teenage drinking is especially relevant, as according to recent studies, the percentage of adolescents consuming alcohol is constantly growing. However, among researchers of this topic there is still no consensus on what processes affect the adolescent debut in alcohol use and how adolescents are involved in the practice of alcohol consumption. The debut in this work is considered as the first experience of drinking alcohol by a teenager. The main objectives of this work - to identify and describe the different types of debuts in alcohol use, as well as to understand how adolescents are involved in alcohol consumption. The work uses data from the analysis of interviews and questionnaires collected in the project team together with the scientific and educational laboratory "Sociology of Education and Science" of the Higher School of Economics. Results - in addition to debuts in alcohol consumption, there is alcohol initiation - when parents themselves offer a teenager to drink alcohol for the first time. The most popular drinks among teenagers are wines and strong drinks, and the percentage of teenagers consuming alcohol increases with age.