Patterns of alcohol use among Australian secondary students: results of a 1999 prevalence study and comparisons with earlier years

OBJECTIVE: This study was initiated to estimate the prevalence of alcohol use among Australian secondary students in 1999 and to examine changes in that prevalence over a 15-year period between 1984 and 1999. METHOD: A randomly selected representative sample of approximately 400 secondary schools across Australia participated in the study. At each school, up to 80 randomly selected students completed a pencil-and-paper questionnaire anonymously. RESULTS: The use of alcohol by secondary students was widespread in 1999. By the age of 15, 44% of boys and 36% of girls had consumed alcohol in the week before the survey. Among 16 and 17 year olds, about 50% had consumed alcohol in this time period. Of 16 and 17 year olds who had consumed alcohol in the past week, around 35% had drunk at hazardous levels. Long-term trends in alcohol use showed declines during the late 1980s but increases through the 1990s. While the proportion of hazardous drinkers among 12-15 year olds had not changed throughout the 1990s, the proportion among 16 and 17 year olds had increased over the period of the survey. The proportion of current drinkers buying the last alcoholic drink consumed had decreased since 1987, although there was no change between 1996 and 1999 among 16 and 17 year olds. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol is widely used by secondary students in Australia, and significant proportions of the student population drink at hazardous levels.