%0 Journal Article
%T Social inequalities in harmful drinking and alcohol-related problems among Swedish adolescents
%J Alcohol and alcoholism
%D 2019
%A Thor, Siri
%A Karlsson, Patrik
%A Landberg, Jonas
%V ePub
%N ePub
%P ePub-ePub
%X AIMS: The study aims to examine how socio-economic status (SES) among youth is related to binge-drinking and alcohol-related problems using three SES indicators: (i) SES of origin (parental education level), (ii) SES of the school environment (average parental education level at student's school) and (iii) SES of destination (academic orientation). <br><br>METHODS: Cross-sectional data on upper secondary students (n= 4448) in Sweden. Multilevel logistic and negative binomial regression were used to estimate the relationship between each SES indicator and binge-drinking and alcohol-related problems, respectively. <br><br>RESULTS: Only SES of destination was significantly associated with binge-drinking, with higher odds for students in vocational programmes (OR= 1.42, 95% CI= 1.13-1.80). For the second outcome, SES of destination (rr=1.25; 95%CI=1.08-1.45) and SES of the school environment (rr=1.19, 95% CI=1.02-1.39) indicated more alcohol-related problems in vocational programmes and in schools with lower-educated parents. After adjustment for drinking patterns, the relationship remained for SES of the school environment, but became non-significant for SES of destination. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the SES gradient among youth is stronger for alcohol-related problems than for harmful drinking. By only focusing on SES differences in harmful alcohol use, researchers may underestimate the social inequalities in adverse alcohol-related outcomes among young people. Our findings also support the notion that the environment young people find themselves in matters for social inequalities in alcohol-related harm.<br><br>© The Author(s) 2019. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I Oxford University Press
%@ 0735-0414
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agz044