DRINKING HABITS IN HIGH SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN TEXAS

Binge drinking and related risk-taking behaviors by adolescents is a major public health issue in the US. Effective intervention strategies will require further attention to other positive and negative covariates, enforcement of the legal drinking age, looking at those who engage in violence sober, and interventions programs for students at-risk. Purpose (a): A major public health concern facing high schools in the United States is binge drinking among 9th-12th grade students and its consequences towards adolescent health and well-being, especially physical violence. The short and long term consequences of binge drinking include blackouts, memory loss, suicides, academic failures, violence, and automobile accidents. This study examines the association between binge drinking and other risk behaviors with physical violence among high school students in Texas. Methods (b): Data was analyzed from the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to examine the prevalence of binge drinking among high school students in Texas and its relationship to other categories of risk behavior like smoking, marijuana use, and drugs without prescription. Binge drinking is defined as consuming ≥5 drinks in about 2 hours. Prevalence estimates, odds ratios, p-values, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the associations between the different patterns of alcohol consumption and physical violence. Results (c): 53.4% of the participants are associated with both physical fights in schools and an episode of > 1 binge drinking in the last one year. Males have higher odds (OR=2.511) with increased violence compared to females. Among different ethnicities, African Americans have higher odds (OR=1.566) of violence compared to any other ethnic groups. Students who binge drank were more likely than both nondrinkers and current drinkers who did not binge, to report being in a physical fight at least once in twelve months. Other covariates such as male gender (OR=2.51), smoking marijuana (OR=1.52), smoking tobacco (OR=1.84) and using drugs without prescription (OR=1.64) have an association with increased physical fights. Conclusions (d): The alcohol consumption, especially binge drinking, and other risk factors (smoking, marijuana use, and drug use without prescription) among high school adolescents is significantly associated with increased violence. Study limitations include generalizability of the results and over/under reporting of the responses. Effective intervention strategies will require further attention to other positive and negative covariates, enforcement of the legal drinking age, looking at those who engage in violence sober, and interventions programs for students at-risk.