Factors associated with problematic alcohol consumption in schoolchildren

To describe the factors, including the role of anticipated results, which explain progression of problematic alcohol consumption in a sample of schoolchildren attending primary and secondary school and vocational training.

A self-administrated questionnaire on lifestyle habits was carried out in 1992 among a sample of 2140 students (mean age 15.4 years) in six schools of Barcelona and Lleida. One year later the same questionnaire was administered to the 1496 students remaining in the school. A total of 1236 follow-up questionnaires could be matched through a personal code. Problematic consumption was defined according to a score composed of several indicators of alcohol consumption. A self-administrated questionnaire on alcohol attitudes and consumption and a short version of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire-Adolescent was used.

At the baseline survey 28% of males and 25% of females reported having gotten drunk at least once in the last six months. Fifty-two percent of boys and 39% of girls had drunk four or more drinks in a row at least once. The strongest predictors of problematic alcohol consumption after 1 year were to have drinking friends (OR 3.1), to be regular smoker (OR 2.5), to show favorable alcohol-related expectancies (OR 1.8), to be boy (OR 1.6) and to be older than 15 years (OR 1.6), by order of importance.

As has been found in other studies around the world, peer consumption of alcohol and expectancies regarding alcohol remained the most important predictive factors for problematic drinking among Spanish adolescents.