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It has come to be generally accepted that alcohol use — sometimes excessive — is “de rigeur” on the college campus. Occasionally this acceptance has blossomed into concern — witness the flurry of activity by many states to raise the legal drinking age after having lowered it to 18 in the early 1970s. Attention has subsequently focused on the age group particularly affected, the 18 to 21‐year‐olds caught in the public and legislative tug‐of‐war over what should constitute the legal drinking age. The inherent implication is that the legal drinking age should be the age at which most individuals are “adult enough” (i.e., emotionally mature) to make responsible decisions about alcohol use. However, since the majority of alcoholics and problem drinkers are over 21 years of age, it would seem that age alone is not enough to deter irresponsible alcohol use. Consequently, a renewed effort at alcohol education has arisen, with particular focus on the college campus where large numbers of 18–21‐year‐olds are concentrated.

There is a lack of evidence for effective school-based prevention programmes to reduce alcohol misuse in adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to explore teacher’s views about alcohol education in secondary schools in order to inform the subsequent development of new educational and intervention measures.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine female teachers from a range of schools who had responsibility for designing and delivering personal social, health, and economic education (PSHE).

Three main themes were identified in a thematic analysis of the interview transcripts. The themes demonstrated the importance of PSHE to these teachers, who faced challenges in delivering a comprehensive enough curriculum. Alcohol unit knowledge and responsible drinking were priorities for the teachers. However, given the many pressures faced by young people, alcohol could be viewed as just one challenge amongst many.

Interventions may be seen as too compartmentalised by teachers if they fail to address the wider concerns of adolescents. Intervention developers should consider gaining input from teachers on the content of their programmes prior to running a trial to enhance feasibility and acceptability.

There are few studies that have explored what teachers think about alcohol education in general or about the content of specific interventions prior to their implementation. This study adds their voice to the literature and highlights the importance of considering the views and first hand experiences when developing new alcohol interventions aimed at adolescents.

The purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions of alcohol held by schoolchildren using the “Draw and Write” tool, to inform the planning of alcohol education in the classroom setting.

A specifically designed “Draw and Write” booklet was used with 169 children aged nine to ten years (Year 5) across seven primary schools in a small Local Authority in North West England. Written responses were thematically coded.

Results demonstrated that the children had a good basic understanding of alcohol, including who drinks, where it can be purchased and the range of products available. Participants were aware that alcohol could be harmful and held mainly negative views. Findings suggest that alcohol education at this age is both appropriate and necessary to help children explore, understand and clarify their perceptions and misconceptions in a safe classroom environment.

The range and depth of responses from the children demonstrated that Draw and Write can be used successfully to explore children’s perceptions of alcohol. The tool can be used as a baseline assessment to inform classroom-based alcohol education for primary school teachers and those supporting delivery at local level, in line with national policy recommendations.

This paper adds to the existing literature on the use of “Draw and Write” in personal, social and health education, demonstrating that it can be used specifically to investigate children’s knowledge and attitudes about alcohol.

The purpose of this paper is to map and identify evidence for effective components of combined school and family alcohol education interventions. The paper describes current practice, evaluative evidence of its effects, and highlights specific elements of school and family linked education associated with effective prevention or reduction of alcohol misuse by young people aged 11-18 years.

This paper takes the form of a systematic review.

The review found evidence of small positive effects for interventions delivered over short and longer term duration and low and higher levels of direct contact with students and families. Family-based elements that correlated with positive effects were targeting information and skills development, family communications, and stricter parental attitudes to alcohol misuse. School-based components which involved life skills and social norms approaches were associated with reductions in risky behaviours. Weaker evidence indicated that peer-led programmes, external delivery agents and linkages of school-based components to community-level change may strengthen combined school and family intervention programmes.

The heterogeneity of the studies precluded the option to perform meta-analysis.

There is a need for more focused use of planning and evaluation tools, and especially more explicit articulation of behaviours and/or behavioural determinants targeted; the methods that will be employed and the conceptual basis for the programme design could contribute to deeper understanding amongst the intervention community of how and why impact is or is not achieved.

Few studies provide information on the concepts, assumptions or change objectives that shape programme design. The potential benefits of combining school and family education interventions warrants further exploration.

The authors believe this is the first review to systematically examine objectives, design and impact of combined school and family alcohol education interventions.

This paper outlines a pilot study that was undertaken in Australia in 2011 that combined social marketing with education. An intervention targeting 14‐16 year olds to influence attitudes and behavioural intentions towards moderate drinking was developed and tested. Game On:Know alcohol (GO:KA) is a six‐module intervention that is delivered to a year level cohort in an auditorium. GO:KA combines a series of online and offline experiential activities to engage (with) students.

Following social marketing benchmark criteria, formative research and competitive analysis were undertaken to create, implement and evaluate an intervention. The intervention was delivered in one all boys’ and one all girls’ school in April and June 2011, respectively. A total of 223 Year 10 students participated in GO:KA with the majority completing both pre‐ and post‐surveys. Paired samples t‐tests and descriptive analysis were used to assess attitudinal and behavioural intention change.

Attitudinal change was observed in both schools while behavioural intentions changed for girls and not boys according to paired samples t‐testing. Post hoc testing indicated gender differences.

The lack of a control group is a key limitation of the current research that can be overcome in the 20 school main study to be conducted in 2013‐2015.

The current study provides evidence to suggest that a combined social marketing and education intervention can change teenage attitudes towards moderate drinking whilst only changing behavioural intentions for female teenagers. Analysis of the intervention provides insight into gender differences and highlights the need for a segmented approach.

Describes a pilot project conducted in Coventry on peer education and alcohol within schools and youth clubs. Looks at the rationale behind the project, the project work and some of the issues raised. Describes the future of the project as it expands into welfare and support services for young people affected by alcohol. Gives details of a best practice resource.

College students and their alcohol use have been the subject of numerous studies over the last three decades and have received an increasing amount of attention (Engs, 1977; Hanson and Engs, 1984; Gadaleto and Anderson, 1986; Downs, 1987; Thompson and Wilsnack, 1987; Janosik and Anderson, 1989; Tryon, 1992). Studies on student alcohol use began appearing in the literature in the mid‐1970's (Penn, 1974; Rouse and Ewing, 1978; Newton, 1978). Subsequent studies (Scheller‐Gilkey, Gomberg, and Clay, 1979; Heritage, 1979; O'Connell and Patterson, 1989) have documented consistently high levels of alcohol consumption and a serious abuse problem on college campuses. Although some studies (Condon and Carman, 1986; Hanson and Engs, 1986) indicate that overall consumption has reached a plateau, Gonzalez (1986) reported that 89% of male students and 86% of female students surveyed drank alcohol, and many suffered from alcohol related problems. Further, both recent survey data (Eigen, 1991) and participant‐observer studies (Moffatt, 1989) suggest that collegiate drinking is a very serious health concern. Moffatt found that to a great extent college students' lives revolved around the acquisition and consumption of alcohol and constituted students' favourite collective activity. Surveys revealed that no other population group in the United States has a more serious drinking problem than does the college student population (Gonzalez, 1986). Both men and women drink more as they progress through the college, and those who drink more also experience more alcohol‐related problems (Gonzalez, 1989).

The purpose of this paper is to study in detail what kind of role alcohol has among a selected group of sexually active teenage girls, with special emphasis on their locus of control and risky sexual behaviour.

The data comprise the narratives of 87 girls regarding their experience with sexually motivating situations that involved alcohol. The narratives were analysed with a categorical‐content mode of reading.

Narratives belonging to the category ”Everything under control” involved self‐directed girls with strong self‐control who remained in control of the sexually motivated situation despite their drunkenness. “Let it go” narratives were characterised by outwardly directed girls with weak self‐control, irrespective of alcohol use. The effect of alcohol was most noticeable in “I both wanted and didn't want” narratives by girls who had shaky and situation‐dependent self‐control. Their ability to control a sexually motivated situation was unstable and considerably affected by alcohol use.

Alcohol use should be taken into account in sex education and vice versa. Sexual issues should be brought up in education concerning substance use. Young girls should be taught to recognise their own feelings and to consider beforehand what they want from their dating relationships. Role playing can be a useful tool in learning how to better handle sexually motivated situations. A feeling of regret can be utilised in health education both in providing knowledge and as a motivation for behavioural reform.

This study provides sophisticated information for comprehension of the conflicting results of earlier surveys, and it suggests that the association between alcohol use and sexual behaviour is affected by the type of self‐control tendency that girls possess.

The Glasgow acute addiction liaison nurse service provides a unique service to patients with alcohol and drug issues who are admitted to general hospitals in the Glasgow City area. It offers guidance on withdrawal management, educates patients and staff and provides a facility to refer to appropriate community services. Since its foundation in 2005, patient referrals have increased by more than 3,000. Additionally, it has taken on a greater educational role and is more involved in research and evaluation.

Three‐quarters of Britain's teenagers believe they do not know enough about the dangers of alcohol according to a recent MORI poll of 7,000 16 to 19‐year‐olds. The survey also showed that, although most young people use alcohol sensibly and responsibly, 53 per cent have at least one drink a week. A minority misuse alcohol in a way that causes them occasional problems, which could lead to greater difficulties in later life.