The effect of societal changes on drunkenness trends in early adolescence

Increased adolescent drunkenness in Finland has called for research to expl ore the background of this development. This study seeks to find out to wha t extent the societal level changes have contributed to the increased drunk enness among 14 year olds in Finland from 1981 to 1997, The data set is dra wn from a nationally representative hi-annual mail study, the Adolescent He alth and Lifestyle Survey, conducted since 1981 (N = 792-2533, response rat e 77-90% per year). Logistic regression analysis was used to study the effe ct of several background factors on the drunkenness prevalence trend. Famil y structure, parental education, residence urbanization, weekly allowance a nd timing of biological maturation were associated with drunkenness. Change s within the distribution of these factors, especially in increased weekly allowance and earlier timing of biological maturation, appeared to account for a considerable part of the increased drunkenness from 1981 to 1997. The findings suggest that increased adolescent drunkenness is significantly as sociated with societal changes outside the scope of health and alcohol poli cies.