I don't know whether it's unique to Britain, but most youngsters here, me included, experiment with alcohol.  This typically involves drinking far too much of it and getting as drunk as possible on a regular basis.  Now that I'm in my 30's I barely drink, and if I do it's one or two with a meal.  I can't remember the last time I was drunk, and to be honest there isn't much of an urge to get that way again.

Anyway, the point of this article is that new research suggests that adults that continue drinking heavily into their 30's are probably psychologically immature.

The research team interviewed around 400 25 year olds that were showing signs of alcohol problems.  At the time none of them reported feeling immature as a result of their drinking.  When they were interviewed again at 29, and once more at 35 however their opinions had changed.

“We interpreted our findings to suggest that, at 25, drinking is more culturally acceptable,” the researchers say. “Young adults are out at the bars with their friends and drinking is a bonding experience. They also view blacking out, vomiting, and drunk driving as more acceptable because peers are behaving similarly.

“But by 29, when many of their peers have settled down, individuals who still drink heavily may start to view themselves as ‘Peter Pans’ of partying, who never fully matured,”

“This study picked up where studies of adolescents left off,” they continue, “There seems to be a window of time in the early to mid-20s when drinking is not associated with immaturity. Before and after that window, excessive alcohol use is associated with a lower self-reporting of maturity, according to our results and previous studies.”

I suppose now all it needs is a way to tackle that.