Research paper
Intensive alcohol consumption by adolescents in Southern Spain: The importance of friendship

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.01.014Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

There has been an increase in intensive alcohol drinking by Spanish adolescents since the 1990s, especially among the females, but there has been limited exploration of this phenomenon. The objective of this study was to analyse the discourses of Spanish adolescents on their drinking behaviour at contextual, relational, and personal levels.

Methods

A qualitative study was undertaken in 96 adolescents aged between 14 and 17 years who had experienced at least one intensive drinking episode during the previous year. They lived with family members and were not offenders or at risk of social exclusion. Participants were recruited at educational centres and youth centres in two provinces in southern Spain. Ten focus groups and 30 in-depth individual interviews were conducted. A summative content analysis was performed.

Results

Intensive alcohol drinking was widely practiced in this study population. Consolidation of this practice was influenced by cultural, interpersonal and personal dimensions. Consumption in public spaces emerged as a key influential factor, especially the botellón, a collective space–time in which Spanish adolescents socialize and become initiated into intensive alcohol consumption. Besides the facilitating elements of the social and cultural setting, the results also evidence the effects of interpersonal relationships within the peer group, which offer a series of approaches to risk and protective practices. In these adolescents, the main reason for engaging in alcohol drinking was to enhance their social relationships, which acted as a mechanism to normalize intensive alcohol consumption.

Conclusions

Policies to reduce the harm caused to adolescents by intensive alcohol drinking need to take account of the contextual, relational and personal dimensions of this practice. The discourses of these adolescents from Southern Spain point to a potential role for the peer group in harm reduction strategies.

Introduction

Alcohol is widely consumed by European adolescents at an increasingly young age (Gallimberti et al., 2011, Hibell et al., 2012, WHO, 2014). Intensive alcohol drinking is highly prevalent among adolescents throughout Europe and North America, although a recent decrease has been reported (de Looze et al., 2015, de Witte and Mitchell, 2012). From an epidemiologic standpoint, the level of alcohol drinking by adolescents is considered to represent a public health problem (de Witte and Mitchell, 2012, Emslie et al., 2009, WHO, 2010), and the negative health impact on young people of extreme drinking is well documented (Bellis et al., 2008, Currie et al., 2012, Shield et al., 2012). Nevertheless, alcohol is perceived by adolescents to be the least hazardous recreational substance (Ayers & Myers, 2012).

Numerous studies have investigated the influence of the peer group on the initiation of alcohol consumption, but there has been less research on the perception by adolescents of their drinking experiences (Ali and Nikaj, 2014, Bot et al., 2005). Greater knowledge of the social, relational and personal dimensions of alcohol drinking is needed to improve our understanding of the experiences and expectations motivating this practice and of the ways in which alcohol is consumed (Abar and Maggs, 2010, Aldridge and Measham, 2011, Ali and Nikaj, 2014, Bendtsen et al., 2014).

With regard to the social dimension, young people regularly congregate in public open-air spaces in Spain for the consumption in company of all types of alcoholic drink, often brought ready-mixed in plastic bottles or large plastic glasses. These events, known as a “botellones”, take place throughout Spain in both rural and urban settings. They can bring together large numbers of young people, from hundreds to many thousands, depending on the size of the village or town and the time of year (Baigorri & Chaves, 2006). The botellón has been described as favouring the socialization of alcohol consumption and its early onset (Baigorri et al., 2003, Elzo et al., 2003).

According to the latest data from the Spanish Ministry of Health (National Drug Plan, 2014), 84% of Spanish students aged between 14 and 18 years in Spain had consumed alcohol at some point, and 62% of them had participated in a botellón at least once in the previous year. Intensive drinking, considered as the intake of five or more drinks with high alcohol content within an interval of 2–3 h, was found to be significantly more frequent among those who participated in botellones than among those who did not (DGPNSD, 2014). We highlight the greater increase in alcohol consumption found among younger (14- and 15-year-old) than older adolescents and the greater increase in intensive alcohol drinking among the females than among the males (DGPNSD, 2014).

The contextual dimensions of alcohol consumption include the access of young people to alcohol (Demant & Landolt, 2014), which can only be legally purchased and consumed in Spain once the age of 18 years has been reached. However, as noted above, alcohol consumption is widespread at younger ages, and botellones provide highly public evidence of the limitations of this type of legislation (Montes, 2012). With respect to the relational dimension, friendships are known to be highly influential in encouraging adolescents to participate in intensive alcohol consumption events (Bergh et al., 2011, Janssen et al., 2013, Johnson, 2013, Patrick and Schulenberg, 2010), and the peer group is considered a key predictor of recreational substance use and drug consumption patterns throughout life (Branstetter, Low, & Furman, 2011). On the other hand, peer group pressure has also been associated with protective behaviours, acting to moderate the adverse effects of alcohol consumption (Armstrong, Watling, Davey, & Darvell, 2014). With regard to the personal dimension, researchers have focussed on social rules and the expectations and motivations of adolescents in relation to alcohol consumption (Halim et al., 2012, Hasking et al., 2011). Intensive alcohol drinking has mainly been characterized by the search of young people for “fun” and disinhibition (Demant and Landolt, 2014, Freixa, 2004). It has been described as driven by the desire for an enhanced emotional state (internal reward) and greater social approval (external reward), among other motivations (Kuntsche & Cooper, 2010).

Alcohol consumption patterns vary among adolescents (Danielsson et al., 2011, Donovan and Molina, 2013), and there has been a call for greater in-depth investigation of cultural variants around alcohol consumption by young people, especially minors (Katainen & Rolando, 2014), to identify protective behaviours and develop harm reduction strategies (Ehret, Ghaidarov, & LaBrie, 2013). There is a need for further research on the views of the young people who participate in intensive drinking events in order to determine the factors that underlie this pattern of behaviour. According to Lang et al. (2012), the relationship of risk-taking and the search for sensations with alcohol consumption is usually mediated by the experience of positive consequences.

The objectives of this study were to examine the discourses of Spanish adolescents in relation to intensive alcohol consumption and to identify associated factors at contextual, relational and personal levels.

Section snippets

Methodology

This qualitative study included 96 adolescents aged between 14 and 17 years from two provinces in southern Spain (Granada and Seville) who had experienced at least one intensive drinking session during the previous year. The field study was conducted between February and December 2014.

Results

The discourses revealed wide variations in the history and experience of alcohol consumption among these adolescents; however, episodes of intensive alcohol drinking were frequently reported. Various elements were considered by the adolescents to facilitate the initiation and consolidation of intensive alcohol drinking at contextual, relational and personal levels (ecological model of alcohol consumption). The quotations below are given with the name (pseudonym) of the speaker and his/her age

Discussion

This study explored the expectations, motivation and experiences of Spanish adolescents with regard to intensive drinking. The botellón emerged as a key cultural element, generated by young people themselves as a public space for alcohol drinking in company. Our findings describe the dynamic interplay among the personal, relational and environmental factors that underlie drinking among adolescents, contributing evidence on this cultural context.

Based on our discussions with these adolescents,

Conflict of interest

None declared.

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  • Cited by (0)

    The data presented are framed in the Investigation “Género, vulnerabilidad y prácticas de riesgo en el consumo de alcohol en menores”, financed by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality through the Government Delegation for the National Drug Plan (PNSD) in the drug-dependency research call of 2013 (Reference number 2013I042).

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