Teenage drunkenness - more level playing field than slippery slope?

Researchers from Addiction Info Switzerland in Lausanne have been looking into the levels of teenage drunkenness across different countries. They found that rates of drunkenness were converging among different groups with a relative increase among girls and people in Eastern Europe and a relative decrease among boys and people in Western Europe and North America. The researchers surveyed 77,586 15-year-olds across different countries. Overall the sample had been drunk on average two or three times. In Eastern Europe the average frequency of drunkenness increased by about 40% over the ten-year period of the study - the increase was more consistent among girls. In Western countries the frequency of drunkenness declined by an average of 25% - a decline particulary notable among boys in North America, Scandinavia and Ireland.