Alcohol Use and Its Affordability in Adolescents in Slovakia between 2010 and 2018: Girls Are Less Adherent to Policy Measures

Róbert Ochaba, Tibor Baška, Martina Bašková
2021 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health  
The article analyzes selected indicators of alcohol use (weekly use, drunkenness within last month) and the ability of adolescents to buy alcohol in Slovakia between 2010 and 2018. Methods: Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) is a cross-sectional questionnaire study. A standardized uniform questionnaire was used to create a representative sample of 15-year-old adolescents. Two surveys carried out in Slovakia in 2010 (n = 1568) and 2018 (n = 1298) were analyzed. Results: Weekly
more » ... use and drunkenness declined only in boys, not in girls. Affordability of alcohol (not being prevented from buying it) declined among weekly drinking boys (from 60.4 to 34.1%) but remained almost unchanged in girls from a higher socioeconomic group compared to those from a lower one (57.9% vs. 30.6% in 2018). Conclusions: Affordability of alcohol in boys decreased with a decline in alcohol use, corresponding with implemented legislative measures. However, it remained unchanged in girls from a higher socioeconomic group.
doi:10.3390/ijerph18105047 pmid:34064569 pmcid:PMC8151370 fatcat:3wtwzkrqwvfclajauywuish5xe