Although not a nation-wide sample, Young et al. (2002) conducted a study with a community-based sample of 3072 adolescents to determine rates for youth meeting abuse and dependence criteria. Interestingly, results revealed distinct cohort effects in which rates of AUDs were not statistically different for girls and boys aged 12 to 17. For participants in the 18-year cohort, however, males showed significantly higher rates of substance use disorders relative to females in the same age group. It appears that prevalence rates for early use among teens may be similar for girls and boys, but as youth enter into young adulthood, boys become increasingly more at risk for problematic drinking and AUDs.
