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Binge Drinking and Risk Taking Behavior Among Adolescent Females in I srael
Author(s) -
Isralowitz Richard,
Reznik Alexander
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.331
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1744-6171
pISSN - 1073-6077
DOI - 10.1111/jcap.12126
Subject(s) - binge drinking , acculturation , logistic regression , psychology , marital status , religiosity , medicine , clinical psychology , demography , environmental health , psychiatry , immigration , injury prevention , poison control , social psychology , population , sociology , archaeology , history
Purpose This prospective study examined binge drinking and alcohol‐related problem behavior among I sraeli adolescent females attending public school or a residential facility for substance abuse treatment. Problem Scant information is known about adolescent females, especially those with high‐risk (e.g., school dropout and immigrant origin) characteristics. Methods The authors hypothesized that school, residential treatment, and mothers' country of origin status are associated with binge drinking and problem behavior. Findings Females in residential treatment reported higher levels of binge drinking and problem behavior as expected. However, country of origin was not a significant factor differentiating the female adolescents in school or a residential facility. Logistic regression points to current cigarette smoking, ease of purchasing alcohol, unsupervised night activity, low religiosity, and being physically threatened as predictors of binge drinking and problem behavior. Conclusion The lack of differences based on country of origin status points to acculturation as a possible reason for the homogeneity. Further research is needed to study the impact of acculturation as well as monitor the alcohol use patterns and problems of adolescents over time and across locations to address prevailing needs.