ABSTRACT
Adolescence can be characterized as a period of "rapid physical growth, significant physical and psychological changes, and evolving personal relationships" (Scheidt, Overpeck, Wyatt, & Aszmann, 2000, p. 24). Teenagers are at the height of experimenting with life and taking risks, and seem to have limitless energy to engage in both. One of many potentially risky activities that is likely to cross their path during these years is drinking alcohol. For many cultures the consumption of alcohol during adolescence is not a particularly noteworthy event. For others, drinking-and particularly drinking to get drunk-is practically a rite of passage. What does a young person in Italy know where young people experience relatively few problems, for example, that many young people in the U.S. do not?
