Alcohol-abusing teenage boys. Testing a hypothesis on the relationship between alcohol abuse and social background factors, criminality and personality in teenage boys.

A study material of teenage boys from the general population was used to test the hypothesis on early alcohol abuse suggested by the results of previous prospective studies on selected materials. The results of interviews of 1,004 18-year-old boys from the general population in the Stockholm area support the hypothesis that there is a group (about 4% during autumn 1980) of boys with a high consumption of alcohol, simultaneous use of drugs and criminal behaviour. As a group these boys had been brought up in emotionally disturbed homes, with alcoholic parents, and they also showed personality features indicating psychopathy. The study provides evidence that results of investigations on selected materials are also relevant to the general population.