MOTIVACIJA I NAVIKE PIJENJA ALKOHOLNIH PIĆA ADOLESCENATA GRADA DUBROVNIKA

ALCOHOL DRINKING MOTIVATION AND HABITS OF ADOLESCENTS IN THE CITY OF DUBROVNIK Adolescent alcohol use is one of the biggest public health problems of youth worldwide. Studies conducted in the Republic of Croatia confirm a high prevalence of this phenomenon in high school students with the data showing that almost 92% of young people under the age of 16 have tried some of the alcoholic beverages. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of beer and spirit drinking among high school students according to gender, type of school, and beer drinking of people closely related to them. The study also explored high school students’ motivation for beer drinking and differences in motivation between genders. The study included 789 students from 2nd and 3rd grades of high schools in Dubrovnik. The results showed that 92% of students have tried alcohol at least once. A higher percentage of male students consumed beer and wine than female students, and when it came to hard liquor, female students drank an equal amount of hard liquor as male students. The students in vocational schools, particularly in three-year programs consume more alcohol than the students from grammar schools. The study showed a correlation between adolescent drinking and drinking habits of people close to them, in particular partners and close friends. The study also showed the link between adolescent drinking and parents’ beer drinking. The most common motivation for drinking beer in adolescents is having fun and relaxing from everyday worries. They drink beer when they feel happy or bored as beer drinking increases their good mood and contributes to feeling relaxed. This study results indicate the need for implementing science-based alcohol use prevention programs and programs of high school students’ mental health promotion. The importance of involving parents in prevention programs, the role of the community in promoting healthy lifestyles and organizing ways of constructive leisure and fun for young people are also emphasized. Key words: adolescents; alcoholic drinks; beer; drinking; motivation

Population Distrust of Drinking Water Safety. Community Outrage Analysis, Prediction and Management

The aim of the work is to evaluate the effectiveness of the risk communication strategies in cases of unsafe drinking water supply in Sardinia, the Italian context with the highest population distrust in drinking water safety. During the period 2010–2015, the ordinances published on the institutional websites were analyzed, and the population risk perception was evaluated by applying, for the first time in public health threats, the “OUTRAGE Prediction & Management” software released by Sandman. Overall, 417 ordinances issued by the Sardinian Municipalities were found. Only 1.5% of the ordinances reported information about parameters, concentrations, and risks to health, whereas 4.8% indicated only the parameters and non-standard levels. By contrast, 53.2% specified only the non-standard parameter, and 40.5% indicated a generic non-drinking motivation. The outrage assessment showed values exceeding the threshold of risk acceptance, attributable to the lack and low clarity of the information reported by the ordinances. The present study allowed us to highlight critical issues in risk communication of the quality of drinking water.

Exploring Alcohol Use Motivations in Underage College Students

The goal of this article is to illustrate how a person-centered analytic approach can inform our understanding of alcohol use motivations in underage college students and to build off of a related analysis with legal-aged students. Data come from 2,346 students who were under 21 years old and reported using alcohol in the past year in the 2013 Indiana College Substance Use Survey. Latent class analysis identified four underage drinking motivation subgroups and examined associations between subgroup membership and alcohol-related behavior and consequences. The groups varied in their combination of alcohol motivations and their alcohol-related behaviors and consequences. Results for the present study confirm the variability in motivations for alcohol use and provide valuable information about the characteristics of those groups at highest risk, which can inform content and intensity of prevention efforts targeted at underage college students.