Adults who abuse alcohol feel immature
By William Smith
When a young person has ‘one too many’ during their 20’s it does not mean that they are immature, however, if this continues as they reach their 30’s it can indicate that they feel psychologically underdeveloped, a recent study has revealed.
The study, conducted by the University of Missouri, suggests that helping young adults to recognise their mental desire to ‘sober up’ can help reduce the risk of them abusing alcohol later on.
Lead author of the study, Rachel Winograd of Missouri University says ‘People in their early 20’s who accept their own heavy drinking and experience alcohol-related consequences may not realise that these behaviours can be associated with identity issues later on. We can apply this research to nip the problem in the bud and help young adults become aware that their alcohol use behaviours may conflict with their long-term goals.’
As part of the study more than 400 participants were interviewed. All participants were 25 years old and some exhibited signs of alcohol misuse. At the time of the interviews they did not connect this abuse with any self-reported feelings of immaturity. Four years later, when aged 29, and a further 6 years later, when aged 35, the participants felt quite differently. The participants who had displayed signs of alcohol misuse or dependence also, at this older age, reported feelings of immaturity.
Winograd said ‘We interpreted our findings to suggest that, at 25, drinking is more culturally acceptable. Young adults are out at bars with their friends and drinking is a bonding experience. They also view blacking out, vomiting and drunk driving as more acceptable because peers are behaving similarly.’
She added ‘But by 29, when many of their peers have settle down, individuals who still drink heavily may start to view themselves as ‘Peter Pans’ of partying, who never fully matured.’
The study used data which had been collected from a study group that was followed by Kenneth Sher, co-author of this research, since 1987 when the participants were all in their freshman year.
Winograd said ‘There seems to be a window of time in the early to mid-20s when drinking is not associated with immaturity. Before and after that window, excessive alcohol use is associated with a lower self-reporting of maturity, according to our results and previous studies.
Sher said that having data which goes back to 1987 about the same group of young adults was important to this new study. ‘Most critically, it allows us to assume that age differences in the size or direction of an effect is associated with developmental change and not related to sampling biases associated with sampling two different age groups.’
