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Alcohol and Tobacco Use Among Youth
in Monteverde, Costa Rica Danielle Grams1, Joshua Vollstaedt1 , Hannah Bose2, Nancy Romero-Daza1
and David Himmelgreen1
1The University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 2 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Abstract
Adolescent alcohol and tobacco consumption has become a
growing concern among citizens in the Monteverde zone of Costa Rica.
To best evaluate and address this concern, we sought to answer four
questions: who engages in alcohol and tobacco use, what are the
motivations to consume or not consume alcohol and tobacco, what
protective and risk factors are acting on Monteverde youth, and what
activities are desired by Monteverde youth. These questions were
answered through participant observations, informal conversations with
community members, one-on-one interviews, a focus group and
surveys. It was found that 15.3% of youths between 15-25 years
engage in frequent alcohol use and 6.9% of youths engage in frequent
tobacco use, with the average ages of first consumption being 14.2
years and 14.9 years respectively. Family and friends are the
predominate factors influencing our participant’s decision to consume
or not consume alcohol and tobacco. Additionally, the community
expresses a great concern that there is a lack of safe activities for youth
in the Monteverde zone. This lack of activities is perceived to be
contributing to adolescent alcohol and tobacco use. The results of 11
interviews and 62 surveys indicate that a park, sports/recreation center,
sports teams and a movie theater are the top desired activities by
Monteverde youth. The results of this study can be used for further
research on the topic of alcohol and tobacco use in the Monteverde
zone as well as serve as a starting point for the implementation of youth
centered activities
Introduction
References
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the USF Honors College Jack McCorkle
Memorial Scholarship as well as the Office of Undergraduate Research
for providing travel funds for this project.
Additionally, thank you to El Instituto Monteverde for facility
use. We would also like to acknowledge Daniel Vargas, Cristina
Navarro and Jenny Peña for assisting with community advising,
translation, and participant recruitment. Finally, we would like to
acknowledge Nancy Romero-Daza and David Himmelgreen for their
instruction and administration of the Globalization and Community
Health Field School.
Methods
Results
Phase I:
•Participant
observation
•Informal conversation
Phase II:
•Interviews (n=11)
•Focus Group
Phase III:
•Surveys (n=62)
Based upon informal conversations with community members,
interviews and meetings with a Monteverde Community Advisor,
the following research questions were formed:
o Who within our population consumes alcohol and/or
tobacco?
o At what age does alcohol and tobacco consumption begin?
o What are the reasons for consuming or not consuming
alcohol and/or tobacco?
o What are the risk and protective factors affecting
Monteverde adolescents in relation to alcohol and tobacco
consumption?
Results were evaluated with SPSS statistical analysis software using
chi squared tests with dichotomous values. Monteverde is a small community of about 7,000 residents
located atop the Continental Divide in Northwest Costa Rica. Recently,
the Monteverde community identified alcohol and tobacco use among
adolescents as a social and public health concern and requested that the
Monteverde Institute (MVI) conduct a research investigation of this
issue. Based upon recommendations made by previous MVI research
groups (Potts et al., 2003; Lee et al., 2004; de Luna et al., 2001) the
research team chose to investigate the motivations and environmental
influences of youth consumption of alcohol and tobacco. Studies by
Blum and Ireland, stress the importance of assessing both risk and
protective factors when evaluating and predicting adolescent substance
abuse. In this study, we evaluated risk and protective factors, as
described by Arthur et al., such as family support, peer influence and
school/community engagement (Figure 1). The results of this study can
be used to develop adolescent anti-tobacco and anti-alcohol programs
that are of relevance to the Monteverde community
Figure 1: Risk and protective factors influencing
behavior outcomes in adolescents.
Arthur, Michael, David Hawkins, John A. Pollard, Richard F.
Catalano, and A.J. Baglioni. “Measuring Risk and Protective
Factors for Substance Use, Delinquency, and Other Adolescent
Problem Behaviors.” Evaluation Review, 2002: 575-601.
Blum, Robert, and Marjorie Ireland. "Reducing Risk, Increasing
Protective Factors: Findings from the Caribbean Youth
Health Survey." Journal of Adolescent Health, 2004: 493- 500.
de Luna, Melanie, Renzo Rosales, and Jennifer Avery. "Mental Health
and Alcoholism." 2001.
Lee, Joanne, Sandra Oh, Diana Olivia, Myriam Scally, and Susan
Walker. "Perceptions of Montevede Youth (14-18 years of age)
Towards Pro- and Anti-Tobacco Advertising in Costa Rica."
2004.
Potts, Stephanie, Rebecca Stepan, and Kelly Yarzab. "Use of and
Attitudes Regarding Tobacco among Youth in the Monteverde
Zone, Costa Rica." 2003.
Figure 3:
Participants Use of
Alcohol vs. Use of
Cigarettes:
Participants who
have never tried
alcohol are
significantly less
likely to have tried
cigarettes.
Figure 5: Comfortable
Speaking with Mother
vs. Participant’s Use
of Alcohol:
Participants who report
a “moderate to high”
level of comfort
speaking with his/her
mother about their
problems are less
likely to frequently
drink alcohol.
What are the Reasons You Consume/Do not Consume Alcohol?
Participants were asked to list the top 3 reasons why they either
consume alcohol (red) or do not consume alcohol (green). The
font size indicates the relative number of responses, with larger
fonts having a higher response rate. The top three reasons to
consume alcohol are: "por diversion" (for fun), “occasiones
especiales” (special occasions), “por diversion con mis amigos”
(for fun with friends). The top 3 reasons to not consume alcohol
are: "es malo para la salud" (it is bad for your health), “es
dañino/peligroso” (it is dangerous), "no me llama la atencion" (it
does not catch my attention). Participants cited nearly two times
as many reasons why they do not consume alcohol than reasons
why they do consume alcohol.
Figure 4:
Participants Use of
Alcohol vs. Peer
Use of Alcohol:
Participants with
“some or more”
friends who have
tried alcohol are
more likely to try
alcohol.
o Participants: n=73
o Age Range: 12-25 years old
o Male: 54.29%
Female: 45.75%
*Neither age nor gender influences alcohol
or tobacco consumption
Alcohol Consumption:
o Has tried: 61.6%
o Drinks frequently: 15.3%
Tobacco Consumption (smoking):
o Has tried: 28.8%
o Smokes frequently: 6%
Figure 2: Age Distribution of Youth Who Frequently Drink: Of
the participants between 12-25, 15.3% report drinking frequently.
Conclusions
o Neither age nor gender significantly influences tobacco or
alcohol consumption.
o Participants who have never tried a cigarette are significantly
less likely to have tried alcohol (Figure 3).
o Alcohol use is influenced by participant’s family and friends
(Figure 4 and Figure 5).
o The top 3 reasons participants chose to consume alcohol are:
•For fun
•Special occasions
•For fun with friends
o The top 3 reasons participants chose not to consume alcohol are:
•It is bad for your health
•It is dangerous
•It does not catch my attention/does not interest me