Exposure to alcohol among adolescent students and associated factors

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of alcohol consumption among adolescent school students and identify its individual and contextual associated factors. METHODS: The present research used data from the 2009 National School Health Survey (PeNSE), which included a sample of 59,699 9(th) grade students in Brazilian capitals and the Federal District. The association between regular alcohol consumption and independent explanatory variables was measured by means of the Pearson’s Chi-square test, with a 0.05 significance level. The explanatory variables were divided into four groups based on affinity (sociodemographic; school and family context; risk factors; and protection factors). A multivariate analysis was carried out for each group, always adjusting for age and sex. Variables with p < 0.10 were used in the final multivariate analysis model. RESULTS: The highest alcohol consumption in the preceding 30 days was independently associated with pupils aged 15 years (OR = 1.46) and over, female (OR = 1.72), white, children of mothers with higher education, studying in private school, students who had tried smoking (OR = 1.72) and drug use (OR = 1.81), with regular tobacco consumption (OR = 2.16) and those who have had sexual intercourse (OR = 2.37). The factors related to family were skipping school without parental knowledge (OR = 1.49), parents not knowing what children do in their free time (OR = 1.34), having fewer meals with their parents (OR = 1.22), reporting that parents do not care (OR = 3.05), or care little (OR = 3.39) if they go home drunk, and having suffered domestic violence (OR = 1.36). CONCLUSIONS: The results reinforce the importance of viewing alcohol consumption among adolescents as a complex, multifactorial and socially determined phenomenon.