Οινοπνευματώδη ποτά και μαθητόκοσμος

Alcohol use among adolescents has recently been singled out as a topic of widespread public concern in Greece. Along with the use of other licit and illicit drugs, commonly labeled as "Drug Use", it represents one of the most striking and best documented items of social change during the last decade. In order to investigate the usage, knowledge of, and attitudes toward "drinking" as well as some factors regarding the perceived social environment, which possibly contribute to the increase of alcohol use, we surveyed a sample of 7,904 high school students, in Athens, Patras and Ioannina (three representative Greek towns), between November 1983 and January 1984. The population chosen for the study was adolescents in two grades: grade 9 (ages 13-15, N=3,621) and grade 12 (ages 17-19, N=4,283). All students were simultaneously given a self-administered, anonymous and confidential multiple choice questionnaire which covered 103 items (family and personal socioeconomic data, academic performance, interests, peers and parental influences, knowledge of, and attitudes toward drinking, as well as their own alcohol use). Test-Retest Reliability coefficients for the use of alcohol were 0.81-0.97 while a total coefficient for all the frequencies with which each beverage (i.e. beer, wine and spirits) were used was r1i=0.77. Three different approaches to the study of reliability and validity (External Validity, Construct Validity and Internal Validity), as well as studies of missing data, indicated that our measures are sufficiently valid to warrant reliance on them as a primary source of data. Responses to the questions have been analyzed in two ways: Chi-Square Analysis and Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis. From the initial examination of drinking patterns it seems that Greek adolescents have already developed remarkable patterns of alcohol consumption. Abstainers were found to be only 22.8% while the vast majority was periodically drinking and a percentage of 2.0% were classified as -heavy drinkers- i.e. had used alcohol at least twice a week. Males were more likely to use than females, especially at the heaviest levels, and 12th grade student’s drinking exceeds 9th grade's. Beer is used more often by adolescents though the greater the frequency of drinking the higher the alcohol content of the beverage preferred. The higher the consumption of alcohol the higher the possibility for trial or use of another licit or illicit drug. Knowledge of the consequences of alcohol use and abuse was extremely low, and there was a slightly positive correlation with their own use. The subjective reasons students gave for drinking were "to feel good and take courage", "because it tastes good", "to get their mind off their problems" and "because the habits of social association inflict it". Moreover, heavy drinkers tend to emphasize the "positive" rather than the "negative" functions of drinking. The present study revealed certain social factors associated with the increased "drinking" risk. Their order of importance is as follows: 1. School absence, 2. Relations with mother, 3. Age of friends, 4. Positive attitude toward the drunken friend, 5. Presence of alcoholism in close environment (parents, relatives or peers), 6. Truancy, 7. Existence of close friends, 8. Spending a lot of money daily, 9. Occasional or regular job, 10. High educational level of mother and 11. Relations with father. Our results suggest that the socialization process within the family is crucially important in the development of social behaviors such as drinking. It seems that drinking among adolescents is a manifestation of incomplete, inadequate socialization in the family (especially the dynamic interaction patterns within it), as well as of other forms of socialization, such as school or church. It appears that young drinkers have loosened ties with parents and are oriented more toward the peers. The peer' group may serve to provide a social context for drinking and to reinforce this behavior. Both, social reinforcement and imitation of behaviors and values approved by significant others, are of crucial value for the adolescent alcohol use, especially for the 9th grade male students, while for females the family environment remains the stronger predictor variable in both grades. Finally, it has been argued that the development of adolescent alcohol use appear to be a function of an adolescent subcultural phenomenon and a reflection of the norms and behaviors in the larger adult society, as well.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Ioannina

Year dc:date

1990

Authors dc:creator

• Yfantis, Thomas
• Υφαντής, Θωμάς

• Αλκοόλ
• Γνώση-στάση
• Εκπαίδευση
• Έφηβοι
• Κοινωνικοοικονιμική κατάσταση
• Μαθητές
• Οικογένεια
• Οινοπνευματώδη ποτά
• Φίλοι
• Χρήση ουσιών (ψυχοτρόπων)
• Adolescents
• Alcohol
• Alcoholic beverages
• Alcoholism
• Family
• High-school students
• Knowledge of/Attitude to
• Peer group
• School performance
• Ιατρική και Επιστήμες Υγείας
• Άλλες Ιατρικές Επιστήμες
• Κοινωνικές Επιστήμες
• Κοινωνιολογία
• Medical and Health Sciences
• Other Medical Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Sociology

Language dc:language

gre

Identifier

10.12681/eadd/1329

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:10442/1329