Trends in drinking habits among Finnish adolescents from 1977 to 1999

Aims. Trends in adolescent drinking habits in Finland from 1977 to 1999 are studied with special attention to the onset of problem use and gender diff erences. Design and setting. Biennial cross-sectional mailed surveys (Adole scent Health and Lifestyle Survey). Participants. Representative samples of 12, 14, 16 and 18-year-olds. The number of respondents varied from 2832 to 8390 and the response rate from 88% to 76%. Measurements. The frequencies of alcohol use and perceived drunkenness obtained from self-administered qu estionnaires. Findings. Alcohol use remained rare among 12-year-olds. The o verall trends in the frequencies of alcohol use and drunkenness increased c onsiderably over time among the 14-18-year-olds. Age-adjusted monthly drunk enness among 14, 16 and 18-year-olds rose from 13% (1981) to 27% (1999) amo ng boys and 6% to 22% among girls. Throughout the study period, the drinkin g style among boys became more drunkenness-orientated with age, but the opp osite was true among girls. Birth cohort investigation showed that the onse t of drunkenness moved towards an earlier age. Earlier onset predicted high er prevalence of problem use at the age of 18. Boys developed a regular pat tern of drunkenness steadily increasing between ages 14-18 while among girl s the increase of drunkenness started to level off between ages 16 and 18. Conclusions. Alcohol use among 12-year-olds remained rare, but became more prevalent and drunkenness-orientated among 14-18 year-olds. Gender differen ces in problem use diminished. Nevertheless, notable differences persist in the onset and development of drunkenness-orientated use.