Involvement of adolescents from northern portugal with alcohol

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the relationship between sociodemographic variables and involvement of adolescents with alcohol. Method: a cross-sectional descriptive and correlational study, with a quantitative approach, was conducted with a sample of 378 students who attended regular high school in the city of Chaves, in Northern Portugal. A questionnaire that included the Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale was used as data collection instrument. Results: most students were female (60.8%), aged between 17 and 18 years (53.2%), and fit in the category “Regular drinker without problems” (79.9%). Male adolescents were more commonly involved with alcohol (p=0.010). Conclusion: involvement with alcohol seems to be in an intermediate level, associated with gender, age group, level of schooling, and religious practice. These results justify the development of community interventions, with the aim of preventing alcohol consumption.