People who begin drinking at a young age also may drink heavily during stressful events later in life, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Results from a recent study found an interaction between an early age of first drink and drinking patterns later in adulthood.

Results showed stress doesn’t necessarily cause people to drink more often, but it does cause them to drink larger quantities when they do drink. Daily hassles proved to be unrelated to drinking behavior.

In addition, the age of first drink had a significant influence on both the number of drinking days and the total amount of alcohol consumed in the last month. People with an earlier age of first drink had more frequent and higher consumption levels than people who began drinking at an older age.