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Alcohol use in young adults has shown to be associated with impairments in verbal learning, memory, and attention [USAPAS30], and is predictive of emotional, social, behavioral, and academic problems. [USAPAS31]  Alcohol use has a clear association with depression; in fact, having an alcohol use disorder at least doubles the risk of having depression. [USAPA32]  Other mental health conditions have links to alcohol use, including other drug use [USAPA33] and anxiety. [USAPA34]

Alcohol use is also strongly associated with crime. Data show that approximately 3 million violent crimes occur each year with an intoxicated offender; of the 5.3 million convicted offenders involved in the criminal justice system in 1996, 36% (2 million) had been drinking at the time of the offense. [USAPAS35]

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USAPA30 - Spear LP (2018). Effects of adolescent alcohol consumption on the brain and behaviour. Nature Rev Neurosci. 19(4):197–214 (http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/ nrn.2018.10, accessed 13 August 2018).

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USAPA31 - Brown SA, McGue M, Maggs J, Schulenberg J, Hingson R, Swartzwelder S et al. (2008). A developmental perspective on alcohol and youths 16 to 20 years of age. Pediatrics. 121(Supp 4):S290–310 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18381495, accessed 13 August 2018).
 Windle M, Spear L, Fuligni A, Angold A, Brown J, Pine D et al. (2008). Transitions into underage and problem drinking: developmental processes and mechanisms between 10 and 15 years of age. Pediatrics. 121(Suppl 4):S273–89 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/18381494, accessed 13 August 2018).

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USAPA32 - Boden JM, Fergusson DM (2011). Alcohol and depression. Addiction. 106:906–14
 

USAPA33 - NSDUH
 

USAPA34 - Kushner, M. G., Abrams, K., & Borchardt, C. (2000). The relationship between anxiety disorders and alcohol use disorders: a review of major perspectives and findings. Clinical psychology review, 20(2), 149-171.
 

USAPA35 - Greenfeld, L. A. (1998). Alcohol and crime: An analysis of national data on the prevalence of alcohol involvement in crime.Streissguth, A.P., Barr, H.M., Kogan, J. & Bookstein, F. L., Understanding the occurrence of secondary disabilities in clients with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol effects (FAE). Final report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Seattle: University of Washington, Fetal Alcohol & Drug Unit; August 1996. Tech. Rep. No. 96-06.

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