A MAJOR survey of early teen drinking patterns commissioned by the York-based Joseph Rowntree Foundation has concluded family and friends have a stronger influence than celebrity figures and the media.

The survey of 5,700 teenagers showed drinking escalates during the early teens. It found 70 per cent of 13 and 14 year olds and 90 per cent of 15 and 16 year olds, had drunk alcohol.

The majority claimed to have had their first drink by the time they were 13 and about one in five students had been drunk multiple times by the time they reached 14.

The researchers said parents had a particularly strong impact on their children’s behaviour with alcohol.

The odds of a teenager having ever had an alcoholic drink were greater if their parents did not know where they were on a Saturday evening and parents’ own drinking habits also had an impact.