Vieira da Costa Carolina
Hospital Center Lisbon North, Portugal
Title: Alcohol use among adolescents in Europe and Portugal
Biography
Biography: Vieira da Costa Carolina
Abstract
Consumption of alcohol in large quantities and on a regular basis in adolescence is one of the risk factors for the development of alcohol use disorder in adulthood. It is known that Europe is the continent where there are higher levels of alcohol consumption before the age of 18. The aim of this work is to draw a comprehensive picture of juvenile alcohol consumption throughout Europe and Portugal, in adolescents with ages between 11 and 18. Recent international data including European school survey project on alcohol and other drugs, the health behaviour in school-aged children study, the cross-national research-project “Alcohol Abuse among Adolescents and Adolescent Alcohol-related Behaviors: European Region”, 2002–2014 were analyzed and compared to portuguese data collected from the Intervention Division in Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (DICAD) the Portuguese centre for intervention in addictive behaviors. The results reveal that alcohol use has declined among adolescents in Europe. In 2002, 46% of 15-year-olds interviewed in 36 Europe countries had started drinking alcohol at age 13 or earlier. This percentage decreased to 28% in 2014, with the lowest frequency in girls (25%) compared to boys (31%). Portugal was among the European countries where a smaller percentage of girls (4%) consumed alcohol weekly. On the other hand, Portuguese boys (11%) tend to consume more alcohol weekly than girls. The awareness of alcohol-use patterns across European countries can be helpful for assessing the relevance of policies on the one hand and traditions on the other for explaining adolescents substance use, thus helping the countries to regulate alcohol consumption.