Alcohol and drug use prevalence and factors associated with the experience of alcohol use in Iranian adolescents

Background: Alcohol and other drugs use is a problem among adolescents leading to numerous physical, social, and educational damages.

Objective: For determining the prevalence of alcohol and other substance use as well as the factors associated with the experience of alcohol use in adolescents.

Patients and methods: This is a population-based and cross-sectional study, which was conducted in August 2010 on adolescents aged 15-18 years in Tehran. Data were collected by a Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) in 1,201 adolescents. The multistage cluster sampling method was used. Questions belonging to the domain of alcohol and other substance use were analyzed.

Results: In general, 15.1% of adolescents had experienced alcohol, which is significantly higher in boys (21.9%) compared to girls (8.4%) (P = 0.000). 3.1% of adolescents had experience using opium and marijuana. 5.6% had used ecstasy. The results of multivariate logistic regression indicated that low parental control rather than medium control [AOR: 0.09], lifetime cigarette use [AOR: 10.41], having a tobacco user friend [AOR: 4.36], and having an alcohol user friend [AOR: 5.84] are factors that are significantly related to the experience of alcohol use in female adolescents. In addition, studying in private schools rather than public schools [AOR: 3.46], lifetime cigarette use [AOR: 3.41], lifetime water pipe use [AOR: 4.43], experience of sexual activity [AOR: 8.52], having an alcohol user friend [AOR: 12.60], and having a water pipe user in family [AOR: 2.98] are factors that are significantly related to the experience of alcohol use in male adolescents.

Conclusions: We recommend interventional plans based gender aimed at improving adolescent health with regard substance abuse.