The Youth of the Barns
Summary
The present study described the adolescents who visit barns and examined the association between visiting barns and binge drinking by adolescents and tested whether this association was moderated by parental rules regarding alcohol use. Cross-sectional nationwide survey data from 7,750 Dutch pupils (mean age 14.2) were used to conduct logistic regression analyses. The sample was representative for the population pupils in secondary education between 11 and 18 years of age in The Netherlands. Results showed that 907 pupils (12%) visited barns. These adolescents were mostly boys and were slightly older, less educated and lived in less urbanized areas of The Netherlands than adolescents who did not visit barns. Visiting barns as well as less parental rules regarding alcohol use were associated with binge drinking as reported by adolescents. No indication was found for a moderating effect of parental rules regarding alcohol use on the association between visiting barns and binge drinking. Thus, this study demonstrated that visiting barns is a risk factor for binge drinking and that stricter rules by parents regarding alcohol use did not reduce binge drinking by adolescents in barns. Implications for prevention for binge drinking by adolescents in barns are addressed.