In the NESARC, prevalence of current and lifetime alcohol abuse and dependence generally decreased with age (Hasin et al. 2007). A similar pattern was evident for incident AUD (Grant et al. 2009). Age of drinking onset also was a predictor of alcohol dependence and abuse in both the NSDUH and NESARC. Among NSDUH respondents age 21 or older at the time of the interview who had started drinking before age 14, about 15 percent reported an AUD after age 21. Among those who had begun to drink at ages 15–17, ages 18–20, or age 21 and older, in contrast, only 9 percent, 5 percent, and 2 percent, respectively, reported an AUD after age 21 (SAMHSA 2014). In the NESARC, respondents with drinking onset before age 16 had approximately twice the odds of developing alcohol dependence/abuse between Waves 1 and 2 compared with respondents whose drinking began at age 21 or later (Hingson and Zha 2009).
