Prevalence and determinants of alcohol consumption among schoolchildren in Barcelona, Spain

The pattern of use of alcoholic beverages and factors influencing it among Barcelona schoolchildren were studied; 2,255 fifth and eighth grade students from 71 schools completed a self-administered questionnaire. Between fifth-eighth grades, important changes take place in attitudes--strongly opposed to alcohol among the younger, much more moderate among the older. Family celebrations such as Christmas or birthdays are the earliest source of exposure to alcohol, at which one-third of fifth grade students and two-thirds of eighth grade students drink. In eighth grade, though daily consumption is relatively rare (4.4% for boys), a considerable proportion have been drunk at least once (16% of girls and 19% of boys) or have had four or more drinks in a row, while a small but significant proportion (2.5%) have been drunk two or more times in the last six months. A discriminant analysis uncovered some features predicting this "higher risk" use of alcohol: age and gender (being a boy in eighth grade), lower socioeconomic status, higher weekly allowance available for personal expenses, a pattern of usual consumption by both the father and friends, smoking regularly, and having a moderate or high physical activity level, as well as holding opinions in favor of drinking.