Relação entre qualidade de vida e consumo de álcool em adolescentes

Abstract

Background: Adolescence is characterized by the development of identity, the desire for autonomy and the exploration of the extra-family world. It is a period in which some additive substances are taken, namely alcohol, which can have consequences on health and quality of life.Objective: to analyze the association between quality of life domains and alcohol consumption in adolescents. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational study conducted with 316 high school adolescents in three state public schools in Jequié, Bahia, Brazil. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and the WHOQOL-bref were used. Results: The sample is mostly female (56.3%) with an average age of 15.9 years. The results show that 14.6% of participants had a low risk alcohol consumption, 66.1% a risky drink, 17.4% a harmful drink and 1.9% a probable dependence. When comparing the low-risk students with the others, there were statistically significant differences in quality of life in the general domains (t=-2,25, p=0,025), psychological domain (t=-2,57, p=0,011) and social relations domain (t=-2,06, p=0,040). There were statistically significant and positive associations between alcohol consumption and the psychological domain (r=0,24, p<0,0001) and with the social relations domain (r=0,12, p<0,043). Conclusions: The higher the alcohol consumption, the lower the perception of quality of life in the general, psychological and social relations domains. Both health and educational policies are recommended to be reviewed in order to reduce alcohol consumption.