Alcohol consumption among Chilean adolescents: Examining individual, peer, parenting and environmental factors

  • Guillermo Enrique Sanhueza University of Michigan
  • Jorge Delva University of Michigan
  • Cristina Bares Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Andrew Grogan-Kaylor University of Michigan
Keywords: adolescents, drinking, alcohol, factors, Chile

Abstract

Sanhueza, G. E., Delva, J., Bares, C. B. & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2013). Alcohol consumption among Chilean adolescents: Examining individual, peer, parenting and environmental factors. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research, 2(1), 89-97.   doi: 10.7895/ijadr.v2i1.71 (http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v2i1.71)

Aims: This study examined whether adolescents from Santiago, Chile who had never drunk alcohol differed from those who had drunk alcohol but who had never experienced an alcohol-related problem, as well as from those who had drunk and who had experienced at least one alcohol-related problem on a number of variables from four domains - individual, peers, parenting, and environmental.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Community based sample.

Participants: 909 adolescents from Santiago, Chile.

Measurements: Data were analyzed with multinomial logistic regression to compare adolescents who had never drunk alcohol (non-drinkers) with i) those that had drunk but who had experienced no alcohol-related problems (non-problematic drinkers) and ii) those who had drunk alcohol and had experienced at least one alcohol-related problem (problematic drinkers). The analyses included individual, peer, parenting, and environmental factors while controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic status.

Findings: Compared to non-drinkers, both non-problematic and problematic drinkers were older, reported having more friends who drank alcohol, greater exposure to alcohol ads, lower levels of parental monitoring, and more risk-taking behaviors. In addition, problematic drinkers placed less importance on religious faith to make daily life decisions and had higher perceptions of neighborhood crime than non-drinkers.

Conclusions: Prevention programs aimed at decreasing problematic drinking could benefit from drawing upon adolescents’ spiritual sources of strength, reinforcing parental tools to monitor their adolescents, and improving environmental and neighborhood conditions.

Author Biographies

Guillermo Enrique Sanhueza, University of Michigan
MSW, Doctoral student, School of Social Work
Jorge Delva, University of Michigan
Professor and Associate Dean for Research, School of Social Work
Cristina Bares, Virginia Commonwealth University
Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, University of Michigan
Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Published
2013-03-04
How to Cite
Sanhueza, G. E., Delva, J., Bares, C., & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2013). Alcohol consumption among Chilean adolescents: Examining individual, peer, parenting and environmental factors. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research, 2(1), 89-97. https://doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v2i1.71
Section
Other Papers