Alcohol consumption is commonly initiated and drinking patterns established during adolescence and early-adulthood. Indeed, about 50% of alcoholics have developed their symptoms by age 23 [28]. Several studies have demonstrated the association between childhood stressors and early onset of drinking and binge drinking (≥5 drinks/occasion in any 2-week period) [29, 30]. Notably, a large study of adults showed that early-life stressors were strongly associated with early onset of alcohol use across four successive birth cohorts dating back to 1900, demonstrating the stability of this association over a long period of time [31]. Early age at onset (<15 years) of alcohol use predicts adult AD [26, 32]. Two large British longitudinal studies have shown that adolescent binge drinking at age 16 predicts AD and illicit drug use in adulthood [33], and frequent drinking at age 14 to 15 years predicts adult AD [34]. Moreover, individuals exposed to childhood maltreatment were substantially more likely to report that they drank to cope during the first year of alcohol use [29], another predictor of the development of alcohol problems [35]. Therefore, adolescent problem drinking may be one pathway from proximal stressors to distal development of AUDs and DD.
