Abstract
IntroductionEarly alcohol consumption can irreversible damage the adolescents’ brain and may affect their quality of life. In order to better prevent such a deleterious behaviour, knowing its determinants is needed. So far, only few studies among adolescents aged <15 years exist, of which the majority failed to include gender differences. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether gender differences in the association between alcohol use and sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics among 10-14-year olds exist.MethodsData came from the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in French-speaking schools of Belgium. The sample analysed here comprised 4,364 10-14-year olds from the Walloon Region. Associations of the recent alcohol consumption (at least one glass during the past month) with sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics were estimated using gender-stratified multivariable logistic regression modelling.ResultsPrevalence of early alcohol consumption was 14% (boys: 16%; girls: 12%). Migration status and family affluence scale (FAS) were associated with early alcohol consumption only in boys. Second-generation immigrant boys (vs. natives: OR = 0.66 [0.47–0.92]) and boys from “low” FAS families (vs. “high”: OR = 0.56 [0.32–0.98]) or “medium” FAS (vs. “high”: OR = 0.63 [0.43–0.92]) were less likely to have consumed alcohol in the past month. In both genders, alcohol consumption was positively associated with age and inversely associated with school satisfaction and family support. No association was observed with family structure, peer support and life satisfaction in the multivariable models.ConclusionOur findings showed that gender differences may exist in the determinants of alcohol consumption among young adolescents. They will contribute to the development of public health policies and actions for the most vulnerable adolescents, which should take gender differences into account.
Highlights
Alcohol consumption can irreversible damage the adolescents’ brain and may affect their quality of life
Alcohol consumption was positively associated with age and inversely associated with school satisfaction and family support
Our findings showed that gender differences may exist in the determinants of alcohol consumption among young adolescents
Summary
Alcohol consumption can irreversible damage the adolescents’ brain and may affect their quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate whether gender differences in the association between alcohol use and sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics among 10-14-year olds exist. A report based on the 2014 Health Behaviour in School Aged Children (HBSC) survey data in 36 countries and regions in Europe and North-America [2] has shown that among 15-year-old adolescents, 28% had first started consuming alcohol at age 13 or younger (31% of boys and 25% of girls). The determinants of early alcohol use are barely known. These determinants are related to five domains: individual, family, peer, school and community [10]. The risk factors related to the other three domains have been much less studied
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