Sammendrag
This report presents results from a large survey among students mainly 14-19 years old living in municipalities outside big cities. Due to the size of the survey it was possible to analyses alcohol use and its consequences even in minority populations with non-western background. Three groups were studied: students with two western born parents, mainly Norwegian, (N=19460), students with two parents born in non-western countries and who were not Muslim (N=244), and students who reported to be Muslim, regardless of parent’s birthplace (N=241).
There were large variations in alcohol use in the three groups. Students with western background drank more frequently than youth in the two other groups and 61 % reported to have drunk alcohol last year. Among non-western/non-Muslim 55 % had drunk alcohol last year while the figure for Muslims was 32 %. Muslim girls reported very low levels of alcohol use. Drinking to intoxication was also more common among westerners, 47 % reported such behaviour ever while comparable figures for non-western were 34 % and for Muslims 22 %. This is in accordance with studies in big cities.
The students in the age group studied are still attached to their parents and dependent on their care and support. Many family related conditions have been shown to be associated with alcohol use among adolescents. In this study most students, regardless of background, reported about parents who where interested in what they were doing, both in school and during leisure time. Parents spent time with them, understood and loved them. Students drank more alcohol the more their parents drank and the more liberal parents were regarding alcohol use in all three groups. Students with non-western and Muslim background reported lower levels of use and more strict attitudes regarding alcohol use than youth with western background.
The most common way of getting access to alcohol for the students was to get it or buy it from persons older than 18 years. Among 14-16 years olds the most common access was to pinch alcohol at home. There was no major difference between groups in how they accessed alcohol.
Regardless of background, the majority meant that use of narcotics/drugs constituted a larger problem than use of alcohol, a misconception regarding the situation in Norway.
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