Peer pressure is a major part of adolescent social reasoning. A large part of adolescent drinkers are influenced to drink by peer pressure. Adolescents want to look appealing and be accepted by their peers. This can cause a problem from primary and secondary education up to higher education. Drinking poses a major problem in universities across America primarily due to peer influences. It can be inferred that many college students drink to get away from their pressures and stress.

In addition, to peers influence, they can also put adolescent at higher risk factors. "Among adolescents who are not problem drinkers, higher risk and lower protection increase the likelihood of becoming a problem drinker in subsequent years and of making that transition earlier." (Costa, Jessor & Turbin, 1999, p. 487).

Some adolescents have different motives for drinking at different stages of adolescence. "Coping motives significantly predict alcohol misuse during later waves"(Bradizza, Reifman & Barnes,1999, p.496). The early years are indicating the early stages of adolescence. While in later years of adolescence there is more of a coping motive. Through the Cox analysis, it predicts that both coping and social motives strongly predicted alcohol misuse. On the other hand, the high score motives shows that it is a stronger predictor of alcohol misuse than coping motives (Bradizza, Reifman & Barnes,1999, p.496). This can be due to the fact that at later stages of adolescence, teenagers want to relate to their peers more. It is important for them to be similar to their peers in order to be accepted. While in early years social acceptance is not a major priority to them.

Many precautions can be taken to prevent this addition such as familial awareness, more education on alcohol abuse, strict law enforcement on alcohol distribution. This issue is becoming an epidemic that needs to come to an end. If these factors are enforced it may lead to a decrease in adolescent alcohol abuse.

The most significant factor to adolescent drinking can be familial alcoholism. Children from high-risk families are said to drink at an earlier age that children from a low-risk families (Hill & Yuan, 1999, p.14.) High-risk families consist of parents who are alcoholics or members if the extended families are alcoholics. Such as uncles, aunts, grandparents, or cousins. Families of low-risk have a higher cumulative survival probability. The families of high-risk have a lower cumulative survival probability. Hill & Yuan (1999) discuss that high-risk children not only drink earli

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