Alcohol and Cigarette Use among Adolescents and Young Adults in Austria from 2004–2020: Patterns of Change and Associations with Socioeconomic Variables

Julian Strizek, Alfred Uhl, Michael Schaub and Doris Malischnig
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Julian Strizek: Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (Austrian Public Health Institute), 1010 Vienna, Austria
Alfred Uhl: Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (Austrian Public Health Institute), 1010 Vienna, Austria
Michael Schaub: Swiss Research Institute of Public Health and Addiction (ISGF), University of Zürich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
Doris Malischnig: Institute for Addiction Prevention, Office of Addiction and Drug Policy of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-12

Abstract: Background: Adolescents and young adults are a crucial target group for preventing harm related to substance use. Recently, declining alcohol and tobacco consumption in young people has been observed in many countries. Based on survey data from 2004 to 2020, we describe time trends for several subgroups of adolescents and young adults (based on consumption levels and socioeconomic variables) and analyze associations between the level of alcohol per capita consumption or daily smoking and socioeconomic variables. Methods: Time trends for males and females are analyzed by a two-way ANOVA and predictors of use by using multivariate regression and logistic regression. Results: Alcohol per capita consumption decreased significantly for both sexes in the 16-year period, with male and female consumption levels converging. Daily smoking was equally prevalent for young males and females and decreased to a similar degree for both sexes. Being male and living in rural areas are associated with a higher level of alcohol consumption. Daily smoking is associated with a low level of education and is more prevalent among young adults who have already started to work. Conclusions: The decline in alcohol use and daily smoking among adolescents and young adults is taking place simultaneously. However, higher levels of alcohol consumption and daily smoking occur in different groups of adolescents and young adults, which should be considered in prevention strategies.

Keywords: alcohol consumption; smoking; young adults; adolescents; survey data; trend analyses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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