Individual and Family Factors for Alcohol Abuse in Colombian Adolescents Ages 13 to 17

Objective: To determine family and personal factors associated disorder alcohol abuse in Colombian adolescents 13 to 17 years. Methods: A cross-sectional association study was performed from the database of the study Status of adolescent mental health, Colombia 2003, where a probability sample of 1520 adolescents, using the CIDI instrument for the diagnosis of alcohol abuse disorder. We estimated the association with family and personal factors via the chi-square test of independence, analysis of associated factors was performed using the odds ratio to observe the magnitude and statistical significance. Finally, in order to identify the variables that best explain the probability of abusing alcohol, a binary logistic regression was performed, which also allowed control for possible confounding variables. Results: Five hundred teenagers 13 to 17 years met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse disorder sometime in their life. Be between 15 and 17 years, smoking, being male and having had a recent breakup, personal factors were found to be associated with alcohol abuse in Colombian adolescents. Discussion: The findings are consistent with other studies in similar populations. Conclusions: Family factors included in this study no association was found with either. As for the family, the larger association were age and cigarette smoking.