Abstract
BACKGROUND: Alcohol use in adolescence poses a major risk to people's health in their later life. In the long term, Czech adolescents show the highest levels of alcohol consumption in Europe.
AIMS: To analyse the prevalence of excessive drinking among Czech adolescents and assess its development in the past 20 years, as well as to identify selected risk factors associated with different levels of drinking among Czech adolescents at present. METHODS: Quantitative analysis of data generated by a sample survey of risk behaviour among young Czechs, correlation and regression analysis, and multilevel modelling.
SAMPLE: Individual data from the ESPAD international surveys (1995-2015), a total of six cross-sectional waves, representative data on Czech adolescents aged 16 (N=2,738 to 5,399) with the proportionate representation of gender, type of school attended, and regions. RESULTS: The prevalence of excessive drinking seems to have dropped in the most recent period (2015).
Male students at apprentice training centres (without the school-leaving examination - "maturita") continue to be the most vulnerable group in this respect. Significantly higher rates of excessive alcohol use were found among adolescents from incomplete families and those showing poor relationships with their parents, high degrees of social alienation, and generally low life satisfaction.
Excessive drinking also tends to be more common among adolescents from families with low levels of education and higher family affluence. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a marked decline in the prevalence of excessive alcohol use among Czech adolescents, this issue continues to be a challenge for the national health and drug policies.
This paper demonstrates that the levels of drinking continue to be strongly conditioned by both individual and social or environmental factors (such as family and school).