Alcohol harm to adolescents from others’ drinking: A study from Kerala, India

CONTEXT: There is scarce data on the prevalence of harm to adolescents from others’ use of alcohol from India. AIMS: The aim is to study the prevalence of harm to school students from others’ alcohol use in the district of Ernakulam, Kerala and examines its psychosocial correlates among victims. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional survey of 7560 students of the age range of 12–19 years from 73 schools. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Harm consequent to others’ drinking was assessed using a brief version of the World Health Organization–Thai Health Questionnaire on Harm to Others from Drinking. Standardized instruments were used to assess other measures. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The prevalence of various harms was determined. Mixed-effect logistic regression was used to explore the sociodemographic, academic, and psychological factors associated with various types of harms and odds ratios reported. RESULTS: Harm due to others’ alcohol use was reported by 44.5%, frequent harm by 15.7%, psychological harm by 43.3%, physical harm by 9.7%, property harm by 2.9%, and financial harm by 15.4%. Boys reported greater harm than girls. Girls experienced relatively greater harm within the family and boys outside the family. Being older, having a part-time job and urban residence increased the odds of harm. Adolescents reporting harm had higher odds of substance use, psychological distress, suicidality, sexual abuse, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom-counts. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of harm from others alcohol use to adolescents with multiple negative impacts underscore the urgent need for public health measures to reduce social costs of alcohol use.