Teenagers' family and friends have a major influence on their drinking patterns, according to new research conducted on behalf of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
A poll of 5,700 teenagers, carried out by Ipsos Mori, found that around seven in ten year-nine students (aged 13 to 14) had consumed alcohol, as had nine out of ten students in year 11 (aged 15 to 16).
The research revealed that teenagers who spent more than two evenings a week with friends were more than twice as likely to drink to excess as those who rarely spent evenings with friends.
Teenagers whose parents did not know where they were on Saturday evenings or allowed them to watch 18-rated films were more likely to have tried alcohol.
And the chances of a teenager repeatedly getting drunk were twice as great if they had seen their parents drunk as those who had never seen their parents in a drunken state.
Lead report author Pamela Bremner, from Ipsos Mori, said: 'For the first time in the UK, this study ranks what most influences young people's drinking behaviour.
'It found that the behaviour of friends and family is a strong influential factor in determining a young person's relationship with alcohol.'
Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said that parents' attitudes towards drinking, their rate of drinking and drunkenness are 'clear signals to children that this is acceptable and standard behaviour'.
He added that allowing children to drink without supervision can have 'harmful' consequences.
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