NCJ Number
196773
Journal
Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2002 Pages: 247-252
Date Published
August 2002
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the results of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) in the Slovak Republic regarding alcohol tolerance among teenagers.
Abstract
The study used the Slovak part of the ESPAD to investigate whether teenagers that had experienced a rapid increase in their alcohol tolerance were different from others in their use of illicit substances. The sample consisted of students in secondary school grades 1 through 4 who were born in 1981 to 1984. The alcohol tolerance questions related to: (1) the effect of one to two drinks; (2) needing to drink more than others to get as high; and (3) drinking one to two drinks to get high when the effects of alcohol vanished. Two of the questionnaire items were derived from Alcohol Dependence Syndrome (ADS) questions. The third came from the Female Alcoholism (FeA) scale. Students were classified into three groups on alcohol tolerance: no increase, some increase, and marked increase. The results suggested that, to a large extent, teenagers that adapted quickly to alcohol were different from the rest in their use of illicit drugs. The number of occasions intoxicated during the past year showed by far the strongest relationships with illicit drug use. The number of occasions on which the student took five or more drinks in a row in the past 30 days also showed many significant associations. The effects were at their most significant where the illicit drug use was most frequent, that is for lifetime use of cannabis. For less frequently used illicit drugs, such as cocaine, it was not possible to show a significant effect. The reasons for this finding may be genetic predisposition, drinking in inappropriate surroundings, and the biological and psychological process of alcohol consumption. The three-question instrument on growth in alcohol tolerance might be useful in schools for assessing students that might be at risk of becoming seriously involved with illicit drugs. 2 tables, 10 references