NCJ Number
215579
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: 2006 Pages: 1-14
Date Published
2006
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed the reasons given by Finnish adolescents for their own alcohol use and the alcohol use of their peers.
Abstract
Results indicated that that the majority of adolescents in the sample (29.3 percent) reported that they drank to get drunk. Another 22.5 percent of adolescents reported that they drank because they liked the feeling and 13.7 percent reported that they drank to have fun. The author contends that the findings are consistent with signs of the second modernization in that the adolescents highlighted good feelings and drunkenness as their reasons for alcohol consumption, both of which are arguably egocentric reasons for drinking. Participants were 488 eighth-grade boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 16 years who were attending 5 schools in southern Finland. Self-report questionnaires were completed that asked about the participants’ background, the quality and frequency of relationships with parents and friends, use of the Internet, exposure to sexually explicit materials, and experiences with alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. Data analysis included the use of cluster analysis of the questionnaire items related to reported alcohol use. Future research should consider reinterviewing this same sample when they are in 10th or 11th grade or older to probe for any significant changes in adolescents’ drinking attitudes. Tables, references