Brief report: Social and neighbourhood correlates of adolescent drunkenness: A pilot study in Cape Town, South Africa

Aim: To identify social and neighbourhood correlates of drunkenness among adolescents. Design: A cross-sectional, community study. Participants: A multi-stage cluster sampling strategy was used to select 90 adolescents aged 11-17 years from nine distinct communities in Cape Town, South Africa. The sample was stratified by race, income, and gender. Randomly selected adolescents from each household were interviewed by trained interviewers. Instrument: A questionnaire that included questions on substance use behaviour, peers, neighbourhood factors and recreational activities. Results: A third of the sample indicated having been drunk at least once in their lifetime. Older adolescents and adolescents whose friends drink were significantly more likely to have been drunk. The risk of having been drunk was also associated with being white and with being exposed to public drunkenness on a daily or at least weekly basis. Gender was not associated with reporting of lifetime drunkenness. Attendance at religious services (at least weekly) was found to be a significant protective factor against drunkenness. Conclusion: The study highlights a number of environmental factors that should be considered in tackling adolescent drunkenness.