Abstract
Objectives
Findings from previous studies on socioeconomic inequalities in alcohol use among adolescents are not consistent. This study examined and compared the relationship between socioeconomic status and alcohol use of adolescents in China and Finland.
Methods
The sample included 2,005 Chinese and 1,685 Finnish 15-year-old school children. The associations between Family Affluence Scale (FAS) and alcohol use were examined separately in two countries through binary logistic regression.
Results
Chinese adolescents from the high FAS group were more likely to report experiencing monthly alcohol use (OR = 2.13) and early onset of alcohol use (OR = 1.55) (girls), and early onset of drunkenness (OR = 1.81) (boys). However, no statistically significant difference was found in three FAS groups for all four measures of alcohol use among Finnish adolescents.
Conclusions
This study indicated clear differences of socioeconomic inequalities in alcohol use between Chinese and Finnish adolescents. It suggested that interventions on adolescent alcohol use in China should be targeted on those who are from the high affluent family whereas in Finland efforts should be made to curb adolescents drinking across the socioeconomic spectrum.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Ms. Lanmin Xiao for helping to organise the school survey in Beijing and Mr. Zhouyang Zhang for helping to conduct the field work. The authors also would like to thank Mr. Michael Ormshaw for checking the language of the manuscript. As a part of joint research project, this study was supported by the China Institute of Sport Science (CISS) and the Research Centre for Health Promotion in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä. The data collection in China was funded by the CISS and the data collection in Finland was funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland. The first author was supported by grants from the Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies and the Juho Vainio Foundation.
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The authors declare that there is no known conflict of interest with regards to this research.
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Liu, Y., Wang, M., Tynjälä, J. et al. Socioeconomic inequalities in alcohol use of adolescents: the differences between China and Finland. Int J Public Health 58, 177–185 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-012-0432-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-012-0432-3