Highlights:
Alcohol and Other Drugs Use by Canadian Youth
A
National Alcohol and Other Drugs Survey (1989) Report
Marc Eliany, Scot Wortley and Ed Adlaf
METHODS
n Telephone
interviews were conducted in March 1989 with 11,634 adult Canadians aged 15
years and older, selected at random from all ten provinces. The response rate to the survey was 79%,
indicative of a highly representative sample of Canadians.
n This report
focuses specifically on questionnaire responses provided by 1,887 youth and
young adults aged 15 to 24. Selected comparisons are also made between youth
and older respondents.
ALCOHOL USE
Prevalence
n About eight
in ten (81%) Canadians aged 15 to 24 are current drinkers; that is, they have
consumed alcohol at least once during the 12 months prior to the survey. An additional 11% are former drinkers,
having consumed alcohol at some time in their life, but not within the previous
12 months, while 8% report that they have never consumed an alcoholic beverage.
n Fewer young
Canadians are drinking and those who are drinking are drinking less. The percentage of current drinkers declined
from 81% in 1985 to 74% in 1989 among 15- to 19-year-olds and from 92% in 1985
to 88% in 1989 among 20- to 24-year-olds.
n The amount of
alcohol consumed has also declined.
Among 15- to 19-year-old drinkers, the average number of drinks consumed
during the seven days prior to the survey declined from 3.3 drinks in 1985 to
2.4 in 1989. Among 20- to 24-year-old
drinkers, consumption declined from 6.0 drinks in 1985 to 4.3 in 1989.
Frequency
n Most drinkers
aged 15 to 24 drink infrequently. About
29% drink less than once per month, 28% drink one to three times per month, 21%
drink about once a week, and 22% drink two or more times per week.
Quantity
n On average,
current drinkers consumed 3.4 drinks during the seven days prior to the survey.
n About half
(52%) of all drinkers aged 15 to 24 did not drink during the seven days prior
to the survey. One-third (34%) consumed
between one and seven drinks, and 14% consumed eight drinks or more.
Patterns of Alcohol Use
Geographic
n The
proportion of Canadians aged 15 to 24 who are current drinkers tends to
increase from east to west, with the Atlantic provinces having the lowest rate
(75%), followed by Ontario (78%), Quebec (83%), the Prairie provinces (87%) and
British Columbia (86%).
n Canadians
from the Atlantic provinces also consume less alcohol than those from other
regions. On average, the number of
drinks consumed per week by people in Atlantic Canada was 2.5 drinks, followed
by Quebec (3.0 drinks), Ontario and British Columbia (3.6 drinks) and the
Prairie provinces (4.1 drinks).
Gender
n Male youth
are more likely to be current drinkers than are their female counterparts (85%
vs. 78%), and differences between males and females tend to increase with age.
n Male drinkers
consume more alcohol and consume it more frequently than do female
drinkers. Over half (55%) of male
drinkers consume alcohol weekly compared to 30% of female drinkers. Males consume, on average, 4.3 drinks per
occasion, compared to 3.0 drinks among females. Males consumed 4.8 drinks during the seven days prior to the
survey versus 1.9 drinks among female drinkers.
n Males also
drink more heavily than do female drinkers.
Forty-three percent of male drinkers consumed five or more drinks on six
or more occasions in the year prior to the survey, compared to 20% of female
drinkers.
Age
n Alcohol
consumption increases with age. Some
63% of Canadians aged 15 or 16 consumed alcohol in the year prior to the
survey, compared to 80% of 17- to 19-year-olds and 88% of 20-to 24-year-olds.
n Older youth,
those aged 20 to 24 years, report more frequent and heavier drinking than do
younger youth. Twenty-eight percent of 20-
to 24-year-olds drink at least twice a week versus 7% of 15- and
16-year-olds. On average, 20- to
24-year-olds consume 4.3 drinks per week, followed by 3.0 drinks among 17- to
19-year-olds and 1.0 drink among those aged 15 and 16. Seventy-one percent of 20-24 year old
drinkers report consuming five or more drinks on a single occasion versus 53%
of 15- and 16-year-olds.
Alcohol-related Problems
Problems Due to Own Use
n About
one-quarter (23%) of drinkers aged 15 to 24 report experiencing an
alcohol-related problem in the year preceding the survey.
n The most
frequently cited problems among drinkers were physical health (11%), followed
by problems with friends and social relations (9%), financial problems (9%),
happiness and outlook (6%), work or school (5%) and home life (5%).
n Among
drinkers aged 15 to 24, males are more likely than females to report
alcohol-related problems (28% vs. 18%).
n Drinkers
aged 15 to 24 report the highest rate of experiencing an alcohol problem (23%)
versus all other age groups (13% among 25- to 34-year-olds, 11% among 35- to
44-year-olds, 8% among 45- to 54-year-olds, 5% among 55- to 64-year-olds, and
4% among those 65 and older).
n Five percent
of drinkers aged 15 to 24 report experiencing three or more alcohol-related
problems during the 12 months prior to the survey.
Drinking and Driving
n About one in
five (21%) drivers aged 15 to 19 and one-third (30%) of drivers aged 20 to 24
report driving within an hour of consuming two or more alcoholic beverages.
n Regardless
of age, male drivers are more likely than female drivers to drink and drive.
Problems Due to Others' Drinking
n Sixty-nine
percent of young Canadians surveyed report experiencing at least one of ten
problems caused by other people's drinking during the 12 months prior to the
survey. The most commonly cited
problems were being humiliated or insulted (38%), being disturbed by loud
parties (35%), having arguments (32%), being the passenger with a drinking
driver (23%), being pushed, hit or assaulted (18%).
n Female youth
were more likely than male youth to experience family problems due to someone
else drinking (17% vs. 7%), while male youth were more likely to report being a
passenger in a car with a drinking driver (27% vs. 19%), or being pushed, hit
or assaulted (21% vs. 14%).
Reasons for Drinking
n The most common
reasons given by youth for their drinking were to be sociable (69%), to feel
good (42%), to relax (39%), to enjoy meals (32%), to feel less inhibited or
less shy (23%), and to forget worries (16%).
n Drinking for
sociability or relaxation increases with age, while drinking to forget worries
and to feel less inhibited or shy decreases with age.
n Reasons for
drinking are related to consumption.
Youth who report drinking to forget worries consume more drinks per week
(6.5 drinks) compared with those who report drinking for social reasons (3.8
drinks).
Drinking Companions and Settings
n Drinking
among youth is a social activity. The
majority of drinkers (84%) report never drinking alone; 8% drank alone less
than once a month, and 7% drank alone at least once a month.
n Friends are
by far the most frequent drinking companions of youth. About two-thirds (65%) of drinkers consumed
alcohol with friends at least once a month, followed by family members (24%),
and co-workers or students (19%).
n Regardless
of age or gender, youth are most likely to drink when they engage in the
following activities: go to a bar or tavern; attend a party, social occasion or
wedding; engage in an outdoor leisure activity; or attend a concert, sports
game or festival.
Attitudes toward Drinking
n The majority
of Canadian youth believe that at least some drinking is acceptable at bars,
parties and with friends at home.
n Drinking is
less accepted for co-workers having lunch, with people at sports events, and
with friends after work.
n Young males
tend to hold less restrictive attitudes about drinking than do female youth.
CIGARETTE SMOKING
n Thirty
percent of Canadians aged 15 to 24 are current smokers; and 14 percent are
former smokers (i.e., smoked in their lifetime but not in the 12 months prior
to the survey). Among smokers, 35%
smoked less than 11 cigarettes daily, 58% smoked between 11 and 25 cigarettes,
and 4% smoked 25 or more cigarettes daily.
n Current
smoking is highest among youth in the Prairie provinces (35%), followed by the
Atlantic provinces (34%), Quebec (31%), Ontario (29%) and British Columbia
(20%). However, smoking more than 25
cigarettes daily is highest among youth smokers from Quebec (6.3%) and British
Columbia (6.0%), followed by the Atlantic provinces (5.4%), Ontario (3.0%) and
the Prairie provinces (1.9%).
n The
prevalence and level of smoking increases with age. Thirteen percent of 15- to 16-year-olds are current smokers,
compared to 28% of 17- to 19-year-olds and 37% or 20- to 24-year-olds.
n Rates of current
smoking vary little by gender; about one-third of males and females report
current smoking.
OTHER DRUGS
n About
one-third (34%) of Canadian youth report having used an illicit drug at some point in their life. Use of an illicit drug is more likely among
males (37%) than females (30%), and increases with age (15% among 15- to
16-year-olds, 28% among 17- to 19-year-olds and 43% among 20- to 24-year-olds).
n Cannabis
(marijuana or hash) is the most commonly used illicit drug, used by 34% of
young Canadians during their lifetime and by 16% during the 12 months prior to
the survey. Use of cannabis during the
year prior to the survey was more common among males than females (19% vs. 12%)
and increases with age (11% among 15- to 16-year-olds, 13% among 17- to
19-year-olds and 18% among 20-to 24-year-olds). Cannabis use is most common in British Columbia (28%), followed
by Quebec (17%), and the Prairie and Atlantic provinces and Ontario (all
13%). Similar relationships hold for
frequency of cannabis use.
n About 5% of
Canadian youth reported using cocaine during their lifetime, and 3% reported
use during the 12 months prior to the survey.
Cocaine use does not vary significantly by gender, but does increase
with age (3.5% among 17- to 19-year-olds vs. 7.0% among 20- to
24-year-olds). Cocaine use during the
respondent's lifetime is highest among youth in British Columbia (9%), followed
by Quebec (7.5%), the Prairie provinces (4.3%), Ontario (3.1%) and the Atlantic
provinces (1.3%).
n LSD, speed
(methamphetamine) or heroin were used by 4.6% of youth at least once in their
lifetime, and 1.6% used one of these substances during the 12 months prior to
the survey.
LICIT DRUGS
n Among those
aged 15 to 24 the most prevalent licit substance used during the 30 days
preceding the survey were narcotic analgesics - codeine, demerol or morphine -
used by 5.6%. Other licit substances
were used by 1% or less.
n Use of licit
substances were more commonly used among older adults than among younger adults
and youth.
PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE DRUG USE
n The pattern
of alcohol and other drug use between youth (15 to 19) and young adults (20 to
24) differ in important ways. Compared
to youth, young adults were less likely to use no drugs (20.9% vs. 8.5%), were
more likely to use alcohol and tobacco (11.8% vs. 20.7%), were more likely to
use alcohol, tobacco and a medical substance (0.9% vs. 3.3%), and were more
likely to use alcohol, tobacco and cannabis (3.8% vs. 7.9%).