Table 1.
Prevalence rates for problematic substance use at age 15 in whole population and stratified by gender
| Population N (%) |
Males N (%) |
Females N (%) |
p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol measures | ||||
| Heavy typical drinking | 1,024 (21.1%) | 441 (19.5%) | 583 (22.4%) | 0.011 |
| Frequent drinking | 974 (19.3%) | 487 (20.6%) | 487 (18.1%) | 0.023 |
| Regular bingeing | 523 (10.4%) | 252 (10.7%) | 271 (10.1%) | 0.497 |
| Psychosocial problems | 1,283 (25.7%) | 550 (23.6%) | 733 (27.5%) | 0.002 |
| Behavioural problems | 480 (9.5%) | 234 (10.0%) | 246 (9.1%) | 0.314 |
| Cannabis measures | ||||
| Past-year use | 984 (19.5%) | 472 (20.1%) | 512 (19.0%) | 0.335 |
| Moderate use | 485 (9.6%) | 247 (10.5%) | 238 (8.8%) | 0.050 |
| Problematic use | 194 (3.8%) | 119 (5.1%) | 75 (2.8%) | < 0.001 |
| Tobacco measures | ||||
| Recent use | 893 (17.5%) | 329 (13.8%) | 564 (20.7%) | < 0.001 |
| Weekly use | 528 (10.3%) | 195 (8.2%) | 333 (12.3%) | < 0.001 |
Table shows p-values from chi-square tests of association between gender and each binary indicator of problematic substance use.
Alcohol: heavy typical drinking (more than four drinks per occasion in the previous 6 months), frequent drinking (20 or more occasions in past six months), regular binge drinking (consuming five or more drinks in any 24-hour period in the previous two years on 20 or more occasions), alcohol psychosocial problems (any of the following events experienced on more than three occasions in the previous 2 years: ‘set a limit, drank more’; ‘felt should stop/cut back on drinking’; ‘spent a great deal of day drinking’; ‘not done things because of drinking’; ‘continued to drink despite causing problems’; ‘unable to keep up with other activities’; ‘parents/friends complained’; and ‘had a “blackout” because of drinking’) and finally alcohol behavioural problems (similar to psychosocial but based on following four events: ‘used alcohol in dangerous situations’; ‘been accidentally physically hurt while drinking’; ‘had a problem with the police’ and ‘got into fights because of drinking’).
Cannabis: any past-year cannabis use (any reported use in the last 12 months), moderate use (used cannabis at least occasionally) and finally problematic cannabis use (a report of fairly often/very often to one or more of: smoking before midday, smoking when alone, having memory problems, reproaches from family, unsuccessful attempts to quit or problems linked to cannabis consumption).
Tobacco: Two measures were created to indicate: recent tobacco use (any smoking of cigarettes in the last 30 days), and weekly tobacco use (currently smoking on a weekly basis).