One of the reasons that people who start drinking at a young age tend to become problem drinkers when they get older is that they are more likely to use alcohol for stress relief, the Washington Post reported Jan. 11.

A survey of 27,000 people (average age: 43) by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) found that those who reported the greatest number of stressful incidents in their lives drank the most.

Those who began drinking at age 14 or younger and reported six or more "stressors" in their lives drank five times more than those who started drinking at age 18 or older, consuming an average of six drinks per day.

Among early drinkers, alcohol consumption rose 19 percent for each stressful event reported, but consumption among later drinkers rose only 3 percent for each stressor.

The study, led by Deborah A. Dawson, appears in the January 2007 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.