Teenagers are far more likely to abuse alcohol if their best friends do, according to a new study from the University of Iowa. In fact, it’s the greatest determining factor as to whether teens will drink. According to the study, in which researchers surveyed more than 800 youth between the ages of 14 and 17, about 40 percent  of teens who had tried alcohol had best friends who drank. The research suggested that alcohol-abusing BFFs more than doubled the risk of a teen drinking. “When you start drinking, even with kids who come from alcoholic families, they don’t get their first drinks from their family,” says Samuel Kuperman, a child and adolescent psychiatrist from the University of Iowa. “They get their first drinks from friends. They have to be able to get it. If they have friends who have alcohol, then it’s easier for them to have that first drink.” (LiveScience)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.