Young people in `drinking' societies? Norwegian, Scottish and Swedish adolescents' perceptions of alcohol use

Abstract

The paper studies young people's reported drinking behaviors and their views on various social aspects of alcohol, utilizing a sample of over 4000 rural adolescents aged 11.8-16.5 years in Norway, Scotland and Sweden. The methodology employed includes a common questionnaire and a range of varying qualitative approaches (essays and focus group interviews). The various venues and drinking contexts used by young people, their motives for drinking, and their 'learning' experiences with alcohol are described. Beyond nationality, the most powerful predictors of 'high' drinking are 'involvement with friends' and 'participation in commercial leisure'. The predictors for 'low' drinking are 'involvement in activities with parents' and 'parental concerns about drinking'. Results show that Scottish teenagers drink most, Norwegians least and no differences in the predictor variables are found that can explain this. Results are discussed in relation to social and cultural differences, and illustrated by quotations from rural young people in Scotland and Sweden.

“Shoes on your hands”: perceptions of alcohol among young adolescents in Norway

“…Studies involving adolescents a few years older, with more experiences with drinking than our study participants, show that intoxication is considered fun, liberating, and exciting (Kloep et al, 2001). Much of the talk about drunkenness in this study was in general terms, beyond time and place.…”

“…McIntosh et al, 2008;Kloep et al, 2001). The fear of exclusion is part of growing up, and peer pressure was important for young adolescents' understanding of reasons for drinking.…”

Alcohol and cannabis: Young people talking about how parents respond to their use of these two drugs

“…Contemporary studies have highlighted the significance of good communication in families, showing that child disclosure is more effective than parental monitoring (Kerr, Stattin & Trost, 1999;. Recent data on the reported drinking behaviours of young people in Scotland, Sweden and Denmark add weight to this finding, linking harsh authoritarian control and difficulties in communicating with parents with higher levels of alcohol consumption among young people (CAHRU, 2003;Kloep et al, 2001). In the case of illegal drugs, family socialization factors act in the same way as they do with alcohol (Foxcroft & Lowe, 1991Lowe, et al, 1993).…”

Influencia familiar sobre las actitudes ante el consumo de drogas en adolescentes españoles

“…En este sentido, la experimentación juvenil con drogas está determinada por los efectos del modelamiento simbólico, máxime por parte de agencias socializadoras por excelencia como la familia (Martínez, Fuertes, Ramos & Hernández, 2003) o el propio grupo de iguales (Kloep, Hendry, Ingebrigtsen, Glendinning & Espness, 2001), como principales baluartes psicosociales de tendencias afi liativas y de los procesos de construcción identitaria. Como referentes actitudinales, los motivadores para el consumo, así como la adquisición de hábitos ligados a semejantes agencias, representan factores ya sea de riesgo o de protección, en función de sus indicadores, de ahí que se abunde en la necesidad de determinar sus procesos de infl uencia para optimizar los factores protectores e intervenir sobre los de riesgos preventiva y/o rehabilitadoramente.…”