Underage drinking: prevalence and risk factors associated with drinking experiencies among children

PILATTI, ANGELINA; GODOY, JUAN CARLOS; BRUSSINO, SILVINA

Congreso; 2011 Meeting of the Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism; 2011

Introduction: Although high prevalence of alcohol use among adolescents claims for a better understanding of the progression of drinking within children and adolescents, there is no good solid information regarding really underage drinkers (Donovan, 2007; Donovan & Molina, 2008). In this context, it seems adequate to explore children drinking experiences and factors related to alcohol use at this developmental stage. Since adolescents and children differ in their drinking behaviors, more appropriate measures are needed to assess alcohol use within children. According to that, sipping, the lowest extreme of drinking behavior, represents an important measure in children’s drinking research (Donovan & Molina, 2008). Goal: to describe drinking experiences and contexts of alcohol use of children, and to analyze the predictive utility of risk factors associated to alcohol use among children. Risk factors evaluated in the present study were alcohol expectancies, peer’s alcohol use, personality traits, impulsivity, and childhood behavior problems. Participants: self report data was obtained from a sample of 362 children aged 8 to 12 year olds (M= 10.44; SD= 1.213; 61.9% female). Measures: Demographic information; Alcohol consumption; Peer’s alcohol use; Big Five Questionnaire for Adolescents (Cupani & Ruarte, 2008); Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire for Children (Pilatti et al., 2010); an ad-hoc measure of Impulsivity, Aggressive and Antisocial Behaviors. Data analyses: A univariate and bivariate description of the data was performed. Then, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was carried out to examine the unique contribution of each risk factor. Results: more than half of children tasted alcohol beverages at least once, and one third reported to drink alcohol sometimes. Among the most prevalent contexts of alcohol use are drinking when allowed by adults, due to curiosity motives and when peers are present. At bivariate level, gender, age, personality traits, impulsivity, aggression, antisocial behavior, peer’s alcohol use and positive alcohol expectancies were associated to drinking experiences. The hierarchical regression analysis showed gender, age, extraversion, impulsivity, female peer’s alcohol use and expectancies regarding social improvement from alcohol were the best predictors of drinking experience within this sample of children. These results underscore the high prevalence of children with direct drinking experiences, giving support to a developing model of understanding drinking behaviors. Also, it emphasizes the role of social, cognitive and personality factors and on children’s drinking behaviors and the importance of early interventions in order to minimize the risk of problem drinking behaviors.