Alkoholio vartojimo priežastys ir būdai Lietuvoje: žalos ir neformalaus drausminimo aspektai

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization (2014), the amount of alcohol consumed in Lithuania per person is one of the highest in the world. The consumed alcohol amount is associated with the harm to the individual and people surrounding him or her. The article analyzes the relation between causes and patterns of alcohol consumption, the harm of alcohol and the informal control of drinkers. It is based on the data of a quantitative survey of adult residents of Lithuania conducted in 2014 as a part of the Social Exclusion and Social Participation in Transitional Lithuania project (VP1-3.1-SMM-07-K). In total, 1000 respondents were surveyed, 628 of whom indicated that they consumed alcoholic beverages in the last 12 months. Every other individual who consumed alcohol was involved in binge drinking. Men consumed alcohol more frequently than women. Using factor analysis, two types of alcohol consumption were identified: frivolous and dependent. The motives of sociability and alcoholinduced emotions were characteristic of frivolous consumption. The second type of alcohol use defined as dependent that displayed the signs of alcohol addiction and was dominated by the motives of “solving” problems and negative emotions produced by alcohol. Both identified types of alcohol use correlated with the indicators of social harm done by alcohol consumption. In the case of dependent alcohol use, the correlation with the harm to the drinker, particularly among men, was stronger but the correlation with the harm to society was lower. In the case of women, the indicator of the harm to society had a stronger correlation in the instance of dependent alcohol consumption, while in the case of men it correlated more with the frivolous kind of drinking.[...]