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WHAT MOTIVATES YOUNQ PEOPLE TO DRINK ALCOHOL?
MOTIVES
P.RC.IITAQ. OP ALLY•s REPLIES
(Swlss chlldren aged 12 to 16)
OERMAN·
FRENCH·
ITALIAN·
%
SPEAKINO
SPEAKINO
SPEAKINO
100
SELF·
"because lllke lt"
GRATIFICATION
10
" because it feels good to be a
34.7
little tipsy"
36.9
80
"because
1
am bored"
48.6
70
SYMBOLIC
"because my frlends drink too"
PARTICIPATION/
8.2
12.7
80
PRESSURE FROM
"so my friends won't think l'm
YOUNG PEOPLE
OFTHE
a wet blanket"
4.6
50
SAMEAGE
" because most adults drink
11.8
12.0
too"
15.5
40
"soas:=:r
moreeaatly
wlth
10.9
5.2
other
Íe
11
"to give me courage and self·
6.5
7.0
8.2
30
PSYCHO·DYNAMIC
3. 1
RELIEF
conf idence"
9.2
6.5
4 .3
20
"so
1
can talk more easlly to
6.2
people"
4.5
4 .5
5 .8
10
3 .8
"to calm myself down"
5 .7
6 . 1
7 .7
o
World Heallh
magazme, August, 1981
EFFECTSOF
STIMULANTS AND
DEPRESSANTS
STIMULANTS
ANXIETY,
PALPITATIONS
FEELINGOF
WELL·BEING,
EUPHORIA
DISTORTION OF
TIME ANO SPACE
NEUTRAL AREA
ANXIETY RELIEF
DROWSINESS
DEPRESSANTS
2 .5
2.2
ALCOHOLANDTEENAGERS
UNITED STATES
• 3.3 miIlion teenagers have a drlnking problem.
• In 1980, 30.1% ot the teens intervlewed said that either they or t heir
triends got drunk at least once a week. 6% said that they drank daily.
• In 1975, 8,000 teenagers died in alcohol related auto accidents. Another
40,000 were disfigured.
• 90% of the teenage population tries alcohol , 8-9% exhibits alcohollc
behavior (dueto peer pressure)while not actually being alcoholic, and
1·2% of the teens are actually alcohollc-usually poly-drug addicted.
• A 1976 report toa Los Angeles County grand jury found that 80% of all
j uven ile crime was alcohol relatad.
• A 1967 St. Louis County report found that nearly 100% of the night·time
teenage auto fatalities were alcohol related.
• 42 mi Ilion chlldren live in homes with alcohol dependent parents,
relativas, or guardians. Approximately 50% of those children will t hem·
selves develop a problem wit h alcohol.
WORLDWIDE
• Brl taln-teenage drunkenness has doubled In the past 12 years.
• Sweden-one poli showed that 90% of that nation's 15 year olds drank
regularly.
• Soviet Union-90% of t he population had their fi rst drlnk before age 15
and 33% betore age 10. These figures and others have alarmed Soviet
officials who are facing a grave national problem wlth alcoholism.
• Austria, West Germany, Norway, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, France,
treland and Swltzerland are spending mi llions on state informational
campaigns on alcoholism or have banned alcohol advertising in t he
various prlnted or electronic media.