Socioeconomic influences on alcohol use patterns among private school students in São Paulo

Padrão de consumo de álcool e fatores associados entre adolescentes estudantes de escolas públicas em município do interior brasileiro

“…The frequency of alcohol use in life (81%) was higher than that observed among adolescents in multicenter studies carried out in Brazil in 2001 (48.3%) 21 and 2005 (54.3%; 60.8% in Southeast region) 13 , higher than those verified in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, in 2009 (74%) 16 , and lower than those described among students enrolled in private schools of Sao Paulo in 2008 (88%) 22 . Differences can be due to social, cultural and demographic factors, but also to an increase in the frequency of experimentation of alcoholic beverages.…”

“…REV BRAS EPIDEMIOL JAN-MAR 2015; 18(1): [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] No significant differences among analyzed variables from students of peripheral and central schools were found (data not shown), and for this they formed the urban group [n = 557; 306/555 (55.1%) girls; two students did not inform their gender]; sociodemographic characteristics are described in Table 1. In total, 1,012 (61.3%) of the invited students did not participate in the study by reason of not bringing the signed informed consent form, absence to classes in days of questionnaire administration, and one student was not authorized by the mother.…”

“…REV BRAS EPIDEMIOL JAN-MAR 2015; 18(1): [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] The questionnaire Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) -also self-administered -was used to assess alcohol consumption in the past 12 months. AUDIT was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), consists of 10 questions, and classifies individuals as to alcohol use in low risk or abstinence (score 0 -7), risk consumption (score 8 -15), harmful consumption (score 16 -19), and probable alcohol dependence (score ≥ 20) 18 .…”

“…These results differ from other studies, where adolescents with lower income 28 , who work 15,25,28 and have separated parents 15 had more chances of using or abusing alcohol. Among students enrolled in private schools of Sao Paulo, higher rates of alcohol use were observed among those from higher social groups 22 . Use of alcohol in life, but not risk consumption, was associated with conflicting home environment.…”

“…Adolescents living in urban areas more often use alcohol in life, but risk consumption is similar to that observed in rural areas. In a national study, frequencies of REV BRAS EPIDEMIOL JAN-MAR 2015; 18(1): [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] alcohol abuse or addiction were similar among adolescents living in urban and rural areas, but drunkenness was more common in urban areas 30 . In rural areas, the low availability of social activities and access to alcohol may hinder adolescents from experimenting, but once alcohol consumption is initiated, it tends to be similar to that observed in urban areas.…”