Factors Associated with Alcohol Consumption Among Students in High Cost Schools in Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of alcohol consumption among adolescents is very high in Zambia, in-spite knowledge on the negative effects of alcohol consumption on adolescents. The objective of this study was to determine factors associated with alcohol consumption among secondary school students in high-cost school.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study of 357 students in Grades 8 and 11 was conducted. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. The associations and correlations between explanatory variables and the outcome of interest was established using Chi-square or the Fishe's exact test. Magnitudes of association were estimated using Odds ratio.

Results: The prevalence of alcohol consumption was 43.7%. Factors predictive of students' alcohol use were attitude towards alcohol consumption (AOR=3.15, 95% CI [1.04,9.56]), parental monitoring (AOR=0.69, 95% C.I [0.69, 0.94]), parental alcohol use (AOR= 1.76, 95% C.I [1.39,2.23]) and pocket money availability (AOR= 1.52, 95% CI [1.03,2.26]).

Discussion: The prevalence of alcohol consumption was high. Students with positive attitudes towards alcohol consumption are 3.15 times more likely to drink alcohol compared to students with negative attitudes. Students who are highly monitored by their parents are 31% less likely to drink alcohol compared to those rarely monitored by parents. Students whose parents drink alcohol are 76% more likely to drink alcohol compared to those whose parents do not drink alcohol. Students with high amount of pocket money are 52% more likely to drink alcohol compared to those without pocket money.

Conclusion and Implication for Translation: Results indicate a high prevalence of alcohol consumption. Potential interventions should focus on inclining students' attitudes against alcohol consumption, encouraging increased parental monitoring, and teaching students how to use their pocket money appropriately.

Key words: • Adolescent Alcohol Consumption • Attitude towards alcohol • Parental Monitoring • Parental Alcohol Use • Pocket Money

© 2019 Siwale and Siziya. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.