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Binge Drinking, Cannabis and Tobacco Use Among Ethnic Norwegian and Ethnic Minority Adolescents in Oslo, Norway

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess prevalence and factors associated with binge drinking, cannabis use and tobacco use among ethnic Norwegians and ethnic minority adolescents in Oslo. We used data from a school-based cross-sectional survey of adolescents in junior- and senior high schools in Oslo, Norway. The participants were 10,934 adolescents aged 14–17 years, and just over half were females. The sample was comprised of 73.2 % ethnic Norwegian adolescents, 9.8 % 1st generation immigrants, and 17 % 2nd generation adolescents from Europe, the US, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Logistic regression models were applied for the data analyses. Age, gender, religion, parental education, parent–adolescent relationships, depressive symptoms and loneliness were covariates in the regression models. Ethnic Norwegian adolescents reported the highest prevalence of binge drinking (16.1 %), whereas the lowest prevalence was found among 2nd generation adolescents from Asia (2.9 %). Likewise, the past-year prevalence for cannabis use ranged from 10.6 % among 2nd generation Europeans and those from the US to 3.7 % among 2nd generation Asians. For daily tobacco use, the prevalence ranged from 12.9 % among 2nd generation Europeans and the US to 5.1 % among 2nd generation Asians. Ethnicity, age, gender, religion, parental education, and parent–adolescent relationships and mental health status were significantly associated with binge drinking, cannabis and tobacco use. These factors partly explained the observed differences between ethnic Norwegians and ethnic minority adolescents in the current study. There are significant differences in substance use behaviors between ethnic Norwegian and immigrant youth. Factors like age, gender, religion, parental education and relationships and mental health status might influence the relationship between ethnicity and substance abuse. The findings have implications for planning selective- as well as universal prevention interventions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge and thank Tormod Øia (NOVA) for providing us with the data material.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Center for Minority Health (NAKMI), Oslo, Norway

    Dawit S. Abebe & Bernadette Nirmal Kumar

  2. Norwegian Social Research (NOVA), Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 3223, Elisenberg, 0208, Oslo, Norway

    Dawit S. Abebe & Geir Scott Brunborg

  3. Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, Norway

    Gertrud S. Hafstad

  4. Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research, Oslo, Norway

    Geir Scott Brunborg

  5. Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Bernadette Nirmal Kumar

  6. National Centre for Dual Diagnosis, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway

    Lars Lien

  7. Department of Public Health, Hedmark University College, Hamar, Norway

    Lars Lien

Authors
  1. Dawit S. Abebe
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  2. Gertrud S. Hafstad
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  3. Geir Scott Brunborg
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  4. Bernadette Nirmal Kumar
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  5. Lars Lien
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Correspondence to Dawit S. Abebe.

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Abebe, D.S., Hafstad, G.S., Brunborg, G.S. et al. Binge Drinking, Cannabis and Tobacco Use Among Ethnic Norwegian and Ethnic Minority Adolescents in Oslo, Norway. J Immigrant Minority Health 17, 992–1001 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0077-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0077-9

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