Association Between Suicide and Drinking Habits in Adolescents

Global Trends in the Prevalence of Alcohol Consumption Among School-Going Adolescents Aged 12-15 Years

PURPOSE

Adolescent alcohol consumption is detrimental to multiple facets of health. However, there is a scarcity of data available on time trends in adolescents' alcohol consumption particularly from non-Western countries and low- and middle-income countries. Thus, we examined the temporal trend of alcohol use in a large representative sample of school-going adolescents aged 12-15 years from 22 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

METHODS

Data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey were analyzed. Alcohol consumption referred to consuming alcohol on at least one day in the past 30 days. Crude linear trends of past 30-day alcohol consumption by country were assessed by linear regression models.

RESULTS

Data on 135,426 adolescents aged 12-15 years were analyzed [mean (standard deviation) age 13.8 (1.0) years; 52.0% females]. The overall mean prevalence of past 30-day alcohol consumption was 14.1%. Of the 22 countries included in the study, increasing, decreasing, and stable trends were observed in 3, 8, and 11 countries, respectively. Specifically, significant increases were observed in Benin between 2009 (16.1%) and 2016 (38.6%), Myanmar between 2007 (0.9%) and 2016 (3.6%), and Vanuatu between 2011 (7.6%) and 2016 (12.2%). The most drastic decrease was observed in Samoa between 2011 (34.5%) and 2017 (9.8%), but the rate of decrease was modest in most countries.

DISCUSSION

Among school-going adolescents, decreasing trends in alcohol consumption were more common than increasing trends, but the rate of decrease was limited in most countries, suggesting that more global action is required to curb adolescent alcohol consumption.

Binge drinking and suicidal ideation in Peruvian adolescents: Evidence from a pooled cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Binge drinking and suicidal ideation are public health problems that have consequences on the well-being of Peruvian adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between binge drinking and suicidal ideation in Peruvian adolescents.

METHODS

A secondary data analysis of the health questionnaire of the Demographic and Family Health Surveys from 2013 to 2019 was performed. The outcome variable was suicidal ideation in the last 14 days, assessed with one of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) questions, while the independent variable was binge drinking in the last 30 days. Generalized linear models of the Poisson family with logarithmic link (crude and adjusted) were used to assess the association of interest.

RESULTS

Data from a total of 11,609 participants were analyzed. The pooled prevalence of suicidal ideation was 8.5 % (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 7.8-9.2), and that of binge drinking was 5.8 % (95 % CI: 5.2-6.5). An association was found between binge drinking and suicidal ideation in the adjusted analysis (adjusted prevalence ratio: 2.95; 95 % CI: 1.69-3.09).

LIMITATIONS

The cross-sectional design of the study does not allow for establishing a causal relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

Between 2013 and 2019, nine out of every 100 Peruvian adolescents had suicidal ideation, and six out of every 100 adolescents had binge drinking. An association was found between both risk behaviors in Peruvian adolescents.

Co-occurring Mental Disorders in Transitional Aged Youth With Substance Use Disorders - A Narrative Review

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are often referred to as youth. Transitional psychiatry addresses this target group, which considers patients between 15 and 25 years of age. Substance use usually begins and peaks at this stage of life. Psychiatric disorders, foremost attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and affective disorders, conduct disorders, and first-episodes psychosis frequently appear in early life stages. This review aims to provide a broad overview of transitional-aged youth's most common psychiatric comorbidities with substance use disorders. A literature search was conducted in Embase and Pubmed, and the main findings are described narratively. We present main findings for the following comorbidities: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, personality disorders, affective disorders, psychotic disorders, and the phenomena of overdose and suicidality. In conclusion, co-occurring mental health disorders are common and appear to facilitate the development of substance use disorders and exacerbate their overall course. Substance use also affects the severity and course of comorbid psychiatric disorders. Overall, data on transition-age youth with substance use disorders are highly inconsistent. Universal screening and treatment guidelines do not yet exist but should be aimed for in the future.