Has the role of personal income in alcohol drinking among teenagers changed between 1983 and 2013: a series of nationally representative surveys in Finland

OBJECTIVE: Affordability is known to be a key determinant of alcohol consumption, possibly even more important in adolescence. Relating adolescent drinking pattern developments over a period of time to trends in adolescent income can yield information on the significance of parental control of adolescent income. DESIGN: Biannual repeated cross-sectional surveys. SETTING: Nationally representative samples. PARTICIPANTS: 14-year-old adolescents in the period 1983–2013 in Finland (N=33 771). RESULTS: Adolescents' alcohol drinking pattern was significantly associated with their disposable income. The OR for monthly drunkenness versus abstinence was 6.6 (95% CI 5.0 to 8.8) among girls and 9.0 (6.3 to 13.0) among boys in the highest income group compared with the lowest. However, the association between income and drinking pattern weakened considerably during the 30-year period. CONCLUSIONS: Disposable income has been a significant predictor of adolescent alcohol drinking in the past 30 years. However, in the recent years, the amount of disposable money has decreased in importance.