Personal, environmental and socio-demographic factors of alcohol use in adolescence

Abstract

© 2017, The Editors. The use of alcohol in adolescence is widespread, and it becomes necessary to examine the main factors that contribute to this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of personality traits, emotional states, environmental and socio-demographic factors to alcohol use among adolescents. The sample consisted of 529 secondary school students. The multivariate analysis of covariance confirmed a significant relation between the examined internal and external factors and the use of alcohol among young people. The use of alcohol among the peer group was revealed to be the most significant environmental factor. The traits of Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, states of depression and distress, stressful experiences-the total number of stressors, the type of stressors and the subjective degree of stress, the availability of psychoactive substances, as well as gender, age and school success of the respondents were also revealed to be important predictors of alcohol use. The alcohol use among young people has a multifactorial etiology. These results can be applied in the field of prevention programs and in reducing the prevalence of alcohol use among young people.