PURPOSE: The aims of the study were to: a) examine the prevalence of energy drink (ED) and alcohol mixed with energy drink (AmED) consumption; b) investigate the relationships between ED and AmED with alcohol, binge drinking and drugs accounting for at risk behaviors among a representative sample of Italian adolescents.
METHODS: A representative sample of 30,588 Italian high school students, aged 15-19years, was studied. Binary and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the independent association of the potential predictors' characteristics with the ED and AmED drinking during the last year.
RESULTS: Respectively 41.4% and 23.2% of respondents reported drinking EDs and AmEDs in the last year. Multivariate analysis revealed that consumption of EDs and AmEDs during the last year were significantly associated with daily smoking, binge drinking, use of cannabis and other psychotropic drugs. Among life habits and risky behaviors the following were positively associated: going out with friends for fun, participating in sports, experiencing physical fights/accidents or injury, engaging in sexual intercourse without protection and being involved in accidents while driving.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the popularity of ED and AmED consumption among the Italian school population aged 15-19 years old: 4 out of 10 students consumed EDs in the last year and 2 out of 10 AmED. Multivariate analysis highlighted the association with illicit drug consumption and harming behaviors, confirming that consumption of EDs and AmEDs is a compelling issue especially during adolescence, as it can effect health as well as risk taking behaviors.
BACKGROUND: Studies conducted on characteristics of binge drinking and associated behaviours in college student populations are scarce especially in France. Hence, it is important to identify risk factors for binge drinking at university, especially those which may be changed. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of binge drinking and associated behaviours across a large sample of college students in Upper Normandy (France).
METHODS: A cross sectional study was performed between November 2009 and February 2013 and data on socioeconomic characteristics and behavioural risk factors were collected: alcohol (consumption and misuse of alcohol, occasional and frequent binge drinking), tobacco, cannabis, cyberaddiction, stress and depression. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was filled out by college student volunteers from Upper Normandy (France) either online or by paper questionnaire. Analyses were performed using multivariate logistic regression models.
RESULTS: A total of 3286 students were included. The mean (Standard Deviation (SD)) age of students was 20.8 years (SD = 2.1) with a male-female ratio of 0.60. The prevalence of binge drinking in the never, occasional and frequent categories was respectively 34.9 %, 51.3 %, and 13.8 %. The mean number of units of alcohol consumed per week (except BD episodes) was 0.78 for never, 3.7 for occasional and 10.5 for frequent binge drinkers (p < 0.0001). A positive relation was observed between frequent binge drinking and the following: male gender (AOR 4.77 95 % CI (3.43-6.63); p < 0.0001), living in rented accommodation AOR 1.70 95 % CI (1.21-2.40; p < 0.0001), attending business school AOR 4.72 95 % CI (2.76-8.08; p < 0.0001), regular practice of sport AOR 1.70 95 % CI (1.24-2.34; p = 0.001), smoking AOR 5.89 95 % CI (4.03-8.60; p < 0.0001), occasional cannabis use AOR 12.66 95 % CI (8.97-17.87;p < 0.0001), and alcohol abuse AOR 19.25 95 % CI (13.4-27.72; p < .0001). A negative association was observed between frequent binge drinking and grant holder status, living in couples, and stress.
CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the spread of binge drinking among college students and identifies student populations at risk: male gender, living in rented accommodation, regular practice of sport, and other risk behaviours such as use of tobacco, cannabis and alcohol. These behaviours increase with the frequency of binge drinking.
OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the unique associations between electronic media communication (EMC) with friends and adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis), over and beyond the associations of face-to-face (FTF) interactions with friends and the average level of classroom substance use.
METHODS: Drawn from the cross-national 2009/2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in The Netherlands, 5,642 Dutch adolescents (M age = 14.29) reported on their substance use, EMC, and FTF interactions. Two-level multilevel analyses (participants nested within classrooms) were run.
RESULTS: Electronic media communication was positively associated with adolescent substance use, though significantly more strongly with alcohol (beta = 0.15, SE beta = 0.02) than with tobacco (beta = 0.05, SE beta = 0.02, t (5,180) = 3.33, p < 0.001) or cannabis use (beta = 0.06, SE beta = 0.02, t (5,160) = 2.79, p < 0.01). Further, EMC strengthened several positive associations of FTF interactions and average classroom substance use with adolescent substance use.
CONCLUSIONS: Electronic media communication was uniquely associated with substance use, predominantly with alcohol use. Thus, adolescents' EMC and other online behaviors should not be left unnoticed in substance use research and prevention programs.