National surveys examining prevalence rates for alcohol use and misuse among adolescents tend to describe alcohol involvement by any lifetime or current drinking and rates of binge drinking rather than diagnostic criteria. By the time youth have reached adolescence (6th grade), almost 30% have had some experience with alcohol (29.4%; Donovan et al., 2004). Monitoring the Future (MTF) data (Johnston et al., 2008) for U.S. students indicate a large increase in any past 30-day use when youth move from 8th to 10th grade (15.9% to 33.4%), and rates jump again in 12th grade (44.4%). Although the prevalence rates for regular drinking escalate into young adulthood, past 30-day alcohol use among boys and girls do not foretell the significant differences in AUDs observed later in male and female adults. For instance, recent SAMHSA (2008) data indicate that female and male adolescents (12–17 years) report remarkably similar rates for current drinking, 16.0% and 15.9% respectively.
