Lifetime (any) alcohol use was assessed by asking respondents if they had ever had a full alcoholic drink, defined for the respondent as a standard can or bottle of beer, a glass of wine, or a shot of liquor. ‘No’ responses were followed up with, ‘So you’ve never had even one drink of alcohol?’ Participants who endorsed alcohol use were asked how old they were when they had their very first full drink. Only a small fraction of participants who reported an age at first drink in a given assessment denied having had a full drink of alcohol in the next wave of data collection (0.7-3.5%).
