A program developed more than 10 years ago by a professor at the University of Montreal, has proven effective in determining whether a teenager is at risk of becoming a binge drinking.

The program is based on the precept that impulsiveness, sensitivity to anxiety, sensation seeking and hopelessness are the 4 personality traits that allow researchers to predict which teenagers are at high risk of becoming binge drinkers with 90 per cent accuracy.

The first Australian trial of the program targeted 438 year 8 students with of these traits successfully halved the onset of drinking and the incidence of binge drinking for up to 3 years following the intervention.

The Preventure program has been tested on thousands of teens around the globe including in Czech Republic, Canada, Britain and Australia.