Alcohol consumption and well-being among 25,000 Danish high school students.

Excessive alcohol consumption among young people is an international public health concern, as alcohol is associated with a range of adverse short- and long-term consequences. Furthermore, alcohol consumption has been associated with well-being in young people, but the association depends on the chosen measure of well-being. The objective of this study was to assess how weekly alcohol consumption was associated with poor well-being (poor school enjoyment, social inclusion in school, mental well-being, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, and experiencing loneliness). Cross-sectional data from the Danish National Youth Study 2019 was used (a total of 25,910 students aged 15-25 years). For most outcomes, there was a U-shaped association between weekly alcohol consumption and poor well-being e.g. students who never drank, students who only drank occasionally, and students who drank a lot (22 units of alcohol or more a week) had higher odds of poor well-being, compared to the reference group (1-7 units a week). This was the case for measures such as low school enjoyment (only females), poor mental well-being, low life satisfaction, low self-esteem (only females) and low self-efficacy (only males). Among females, odds of low self-efficacy was higher with higher weekly alcohol consumption. Higher weekly alcohol consumption was associated with lower odds of low social inclusion in school, experiencing loneliness often, and (among males) low self-esteem. Conclusively, well-being in general was lowest among never-, occasional- and heavy drinking students. Understanding these associations can help to decrease alcohol consumption and promote well-being among young students.

Alcohol drinking patterns and occurrence of genital warts among Danish adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Under the influence of alcohol adolescents are more prone to engage in unprotected sex, which increases the risk of acquiring genital warts. The study aim was to examine whether alcohol consumption among adolescents is associated with acquiring genital warts. METHODS: Health behavior data were extracted from the Danish National Youth Study 2014. Complete data were available for 63,648 students. Number of binge drinking episodes in the past 30 days, frequency of drinking on weekends and total number of drinks consumed during 7-day week were collected by a questionnaire. Information on genital warts for the period between filling the questionnaire in 2014 and December 31, 2018 was retrieved from the Danish National Prescription Register and Danish National Patient Register. RESULTS: Adjusted analysis showed that, compared to students who did not drink alcohol, increasing frequency of binge drinking in the past 30 days was independently associated with greater hazard of acquiring genital warts (1-3 times hazard ratio [HR]: 1.36, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.09-1.69; 4-6 times HR: 1.55, 95 % CI: 1.22-1.96; >6 times HR: 1.84, 95 % CI 1.39-2.45). Compared to students who did not drink alcohol, consistent alcohol drinking every weekend was associated with greater risk of developing genital warts (HR: 1.62, 95 % CI: 1.20-2.17). Total weekly number of alcohol drinks consumed was not associated with occurrence of genital warts. CONCLUSION: Increased alcohol intake was associated with occurrence of genital warts over 4 year of follow-up. There is an urgent need for change of excessive alcohol intake tendencies among adolescents.