Immigration and the decline in adolescent binge drinking

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Sociology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Adolescent alcohol consumption has decreased in Western countries.
• Immigrant populations in Western nations are increasing.
• This study examines the role of immigrants in declining adolescent drinking rates in Oslo.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the contribution of immigrant background to the decline in adolescent heavy episodic drinking in Oslo.
• To analyze trends in adolescent intoxication from 1996 to 2018.
• To differentiate between demographic shifts and changes in drinking patterns within groups.

Main Methods:

• Utilized repeated cross-sectional survey data from Oslo adolescents (grades 9-11) between 1996 and 2018.
• Analyzed data on heavy episodic drinking, immigrant background, sex, and grade level.
• Employed bootstrap resampling to calculate confidence intervals for trend decomposition.

Main Results:

• Adolescent immigrant background increased from 21% to 35% between 1996 and 2018.
• The prevalence of past-12-month intoxication decreased from 42% to 25%.
• Reduced drinking in the majority population accounted for 70.8% of the decline; increased immigrant population contributed 21.4%.

Conclusions:

• The growing proportion of immigrants and their children, characterized by lower alcohol consumption, explains approximately one-fifth of the observed decline in adolescent heavy episodic drinking in Oslo.
• Demographic shifts, particularly the increase in adolescents with immigrant backgrounds, play a notable role in the overall reduction of heavy episodic drinking prevalence.