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Objective: To test the hypothesis that changes in alcohol-related attitudes and expectancies mediate the effect of alcohol advertising on youth drinking. Design: Longitudinal survey with a 9-month interval. Setting: Twenty-nine public schools in 3 German states….
Results A total of 581 of the students (28%) started to drink alcohol during the observation period. Alcohol use initiation was positively related to baseline alcohol advertisement exposure. This effect of alcohol advertisement exposure on alcohol use was partially mediated by a change in alcohol-related attitudes, which explained about 35% of the total effect after controlling for baseline covariates and exposure to other advertising contents. The analysis revealed similar results for binge-drinking initiation. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 07/07/11) archpedi.ama-assn.org, July 2011

This surveillance report, prepared by the Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System (AEDS), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), presents data on underage drinking for 1991–2009.
This is the fourth of a series of reports to be published every two years on underage drinking and related attitudes and risk behaviors. Data for this series are compiled from three separate nationally representative surveys: the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
The following are highlights of trends from 1991 through 2009. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/23/11)

Background: Alcohol exposure in pregnancy is a common and modifiable risk factor for poor pregnancy and child outcomes. Alcohol exposure in pregnancy can cause a range of physical and neurodevelopmental problems in the child including the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). In order to improve prevention strategies, we sought to describe the knowledge and attitudes of women of childbearing age regarding alcohol consumption during pregnancy and its effects on the fetus. (Source: BMC Public Health, 8/23/10)

Words Used To Describe Substance-Use Patients Can Alter Attitudes, Contribute To Stigma
Changing the words used to describe someone struggling with alcoholism or drug addiction may significantly alter the attitudes of health care professionals, even those who specialize in addiction treatment. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have found that health professionals‘ answers to survey questions about a hypothetical patient varied depending on whether he was described as a „substance abuser“ or as „having a substance use disorder.“ Their study will appear in the International Journal of Drug Policy and has been released online. (Source: Medical News Today, 1/14/10)