Binge Drinking, Cannabis and Tobacco Use Among Ethnic Norwegian and Ethnic Minority Adolescents in Oslo, Norway

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess prevalence and factors associated with binge drinking, cannabis use and tobacco use among ethnic Norwegians and ethnic minority adolescents in Oslo. We used data from a school-based cross-sectional survey of adolescents in junior- and senior high schools in Oslo, Norway. The participants were 10,934 adolescents aged 14-17 years, and just over half were females. The sample was comprised of 73.2 % ethnic Norwegian adolescents, 9.8 % 1st generation immigrants, and 17 % 2nd generation adolescents from Europe, the US, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Logistic regression models were applied for the data analyses. Age, gender, religion, parental education, parent-adolescent relationships, depressive symptoms and loneliness were covariates in the regression models. Ethnic Norwegian adolescents reported the highest prevalence of binge drinking (16.1 %), whereas the lowest prevalence was found among 2nd generation adolescents from Asia (2.9 %). Likewise, the past-year prevalence for cannabis use ranged from 10.6 % among 2nd generation Europeans and those from the US to 3.7 % among 2nd generation Asians. For daily tobacco use, the prevalence ranged from 12.9 % among 2nd generation Europeans and the US to 5.1 % among 2nd generation Asians. Ethnicity, age, gender, religion, parental education, and parent-adolescent relationships and mental health status were significantly associated with binge drinking, cannabis and tobacco use. These factors partly explained the observed differences between ethnic Norwegians and ethnic minority adolescents in the current study. There are significant differences in substance use behaviors between ethnic Norwegian and immigrant youth. Factors like age, gender, religion, parental education and relationships and mental health status might influence the relationship between ethnicity and substance abuse. The findings have implications for planning selective- as well as universal prevention interventions.

Recurrent cannabis use among Norwegian students

“…Cannabis use seems to have low prevalence among Norwegian students compared to cannabis use in some other student populations (Allen & Holder, 2014;Johnston et al, 2011). While the current results support the notion of drug use as a culturally specific phenomenon (Abebe, Hafstad, Brunborg, Kumar, & Lien, 2015), cannabis use among Norwegian students should not be considered marginal, as about one in ten reported use in the past six months.…”

State of the Nordic Region 2018: Immigration and integration edition

“…Tobacco use was found to be at similar levels among immigrants and native-born Norwegians. Interestingly, the study found little evidence of the practices of the host culture being adopted over time, with lower rates of binge drinking and cannabis use remaining for second-generation immigrant youth in Norway (Abebe et al, 2015).…”

Prevalence of substance use among Russian, Somali and Kurdish migrants in Finland: A population-based study

“…In addition, to our knowledge the prevalence of alcohol use and illicit drug use among Kurdish migrants has not been reported before. According to previous literature, alcohol use among migrants in Europe seems to depend on the region of origin, and alcohol consumption and binge drinking among non-European migrants seems to be lower than in the general population [12][13][14][15][16][17]. The smoking rates of migrant populations in comparison with the general populations in European studies seem to vary according to migrant groups studied, and depend on the region of origin, gender and age of the migrants [12,15,16,18].…”

“…According to previous literature, alcohol use among migrants in Europe seems to depend on the region of origin, and alcohol consumption and binge drinking among non-European migrants seems to be lower than in the general population [12][13][14][15][16][17]. The smoking rates of migrant populations in comparison with the general populations in European studies seem to vary according to migrant groups studied, and depend on the region of origin, gender and age of the migrants [12,15,16,18]. The findings of European studies reporting the prevalence of cannabis use among migrant adolescents of non-European origin compared with the general population adolescents are contradictory [12,13,19].…”