Affordability is known to be a key determinant of alcohol consumption, possibly even more important in adolescence. A study from Finland related adolescent drinking pattern developments over a period of time to trends in adolescent income to investigate whether it yielded information on the significance of parental control of adolescent income.

A nationally representative of 33,77114-year-old adolescents in Finland participated in biannual repeated cross-sectional surveys for the period 1983- 2013.

Adolescents’ alcohol drinking pattern was significantly associated with their disposable income. The OR for monthly drunkenness versus abstinence was 6.6 (95% CI 5.0 to 8.8) among girls and 9.0 (6.3 to 13.0) among boys in the highest income group compared with the lowest. However, the association between income and drinking pattern weakened considerably during the 30-year period.

Disposable income has been a significant predictor of adolescent alcohol drinking in the past 30 years. However, in the recent years, the amount of disposable money has decreased in importance.

Source: Has the role of personal income in alcohol drinking among teenagers changed between 1983 and 2013: a series of nationally representative surveys in Finland. Lintonen T; Nevalainen J. BMJ Open Vol 7, No 4, 2017, Art No e013994, 10pp.