Overview
- An 18-year University of Oslo cohort tracked more than 3,000 people from ages 13 to 31 using self-reported drinking patterns.
- Participants who began regular heavy drinking in their late teens and twenties later reported higher education levels and incomes than abstainers or light drinkers.
- Willy Pedersen outlines the findings in his book The Beauty and Pain of Drugs, which has prompted fresh media attention to the long-running study.
- The team stresses correlation rather than causation, noting possible socioeconomic confounding and citing examples such as Oxford’s Bullingdon Club.
- Public health officials, including Norway’s Linda Granlund, urge reduced alcohol intake and warn that early or solitary heavy drinking is linked to poorer outcomes and health harms.