Alcoholism Test for Teens

Medically Reviewed By Kayla Loibl | Last Edited: September 05 ,
2020 | 4 Sources

Alcoholism Test. Alcoholism is defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as a mental disorder characterized by compulsive alcohol use, a loss of control over alcohol intake, an inability to limit or stop drinking once drinking has begun, and continued drinking despite persistent interpersonal or internal problems caused or exacerbated by drinking.

 Self-Assessment: Alcoholism Test for Teens

Seven million teenagers in the U.S. reported drinking one or more alcoholic beverages in the past year. Among those underage drinkers, nearly fifteen percent consume alcohol at least once every seven days, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Alcoholism in Teens a comprehensive look.

To help heighten awareness of teenage drinking risks, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) has developed the following 20-question alcoholism test for teenagers. This easy alcoholism quiz is designed to help teens determine if alcohol and other drugs are impacting their lives. 

Alcoholism Test for Teenagers

Answer "yes" or "no" to the questions in this alcoholism test to determine the role alcohol and other drugs play in your life.

1. Do you use alcohol or other drugs to build self-confidence?
2. Do you ever drink or get high immediately after you have a problem at home or at school?
3. Have you ever missed school due to alcohol or other drugs?
4. Does it bother you if someone says that you use too much alcohol or other drugs?
5. Have you started hanging out with a heavy drinking or drug using crowd?
6. Are alcohol or other drugs affecting your reputation?
7. Do you feel guilty or bummed out after using alcohol or other drugs?
8. Do you feel more at ease on a date when drinking or using other drugs?
9. Have you gotten into trouble at home for using alcohol or other drugs?
10. Do you borrow money or "do without" other things to buy alcohol and other drugs?
11. Do you feel a sense of power when you use alcohol or other drugs?
12. Have you lost friends since you started using alcohol or other drugs?
13. Do your friends use less alcohol or other drugs than you do?
14. Do you drink or use other drugs until your supply is all gone?
15. Do you ever wake up and wonder what happened the night before?
16. Have you ever been busted or hospitalized due to alcohol or use of illicit drugs?
17. Do you "turn off" any studies or lectures about alcohol or illicit drug use?
18. Do you think you have a problem with alcohol or other drugs?
19. Has there ever been someone in your family with a drinking or other drug problem?
20. Could you have a problem with alcohol or other drugs?

According to NCADD, if you answer "yes" to any three of the questions on the alcoholism test for teenagers, you may be at risk for developing alcoholism. 

If you answer "yes" to five of the questions on the alcoholism quiz, you should seek professional help. You do have a problem with alcohol and will most likely require some level of treatment to deal with the problem. Talk to your doctor or a counselor, and show them the results of this test.

This is not the only alcoholism test available, but is one of the most often used. This alcoholism quiz is popular because it is relatively short and the questions are easy to answer.

Drinking under the age of 21 is against the law. Yet, legal concerns are only one component of a multitude of significant ramifications related to chronic drinking.

Alcoholism is a lifelong debilitating disease that deteriorates physical and mental health. Left untreated, alcoholism can lead to self-destruction and death. Completing an alcoholism quiz like the one here can be the first step toward recovery.

Teen Alcoholism

Alcoholism among teenagers is not a new problem. In the past, though, it was usually considered an adult problem and treated as such. The fact that so many teenagers are drinking at all is unusual in itself because about sixty percent of Americans do not drink alcoholic beverages at all.

According to the SAMHSA study published in September 2005, three-quarters of underage drinkers don't even touch beer; they mostly drink wine coolers or liquor (forty percent) or mixed drinks containing some type of alcohol (twenty-four percent).

These statistics show us that there are probably more problems with alcoholism among American teenagers than we want to admit.

The common perception is that only certain people become alcoholics: those who come from abusive homes, for example,or people who have a genetic predisposition for addiction. The truth is that while genetic and environmental factors do play a part in causing alcoholism, alcohol abuse itself plays a role in developing alcoholism.

In other words, abusive or traumatic experiences can make you more vulnerable to becoming dependent on alcohol later on; at the same time, so can using alcohol excessively when you are young.

Concern over teenage drinking has been growing steadily since the mid-1980s as more cases of alcoholic blackouts among adolescents begin to surface. Alcoholic blackouts are periods of amnesia caused by acute intoxication during which the subject cannot remember parts of his own behavior during the period of lost memory.

During an alcoholic blackout, motor skills are not impaired (as they are with someone who is falling-down drunk), but the drinker doesn't know what he's doing and isn't likely to remember much about his actions.

Alcoholic blackouts are dangerous because they can cause the drinker to do things that he might not ordinarily do, such as having sex with a stranger.

Effects of Teen Alcoholism

Researchers have found that teenagers who consume alcohol in large quantities on a regular basis are more likely than other teenage drinkers to suffer from alcoholic blackouts. Even worse, there is evidence that suggests these same teenagers also use drugs or drive under the influence of alcohol more frequently than other teens do.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that every year 6,000 adolescents between the ages of fifteen and twenty-one die in car accidents involving alcohol - three times the number who die in accidents involving drugs.

The risk for teen alcoholics is that their use of alcohol will progress from a recreational activity to an addiction. It's important for parents and caregivers of teenagers to understand how alcoholism develops so they can try to prevent it from developing in their own homes or with the children under their care.

Based on research findings, we know that there is a significant link between having alcoholic parents and growing up in families where fighting and violence are common and rampant throughout one's childhood.Young people who live in such environments are much more likely than those from non-violent households to become alcoholics.

The result is that many of the teenagers who abuse alcohol are exhibiting the behavioral effects of having been traumatized in childhood.

More than an alcoholism test on our teenage alcoholism page

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