Psychosocial consequences of a single episode of alcohol intoxication in adolescents

Abstract

Although a substantial amount of research on the consequences of adolescent alcohol use is done, little is known about the psychosocial consequences of alcohol intoxication. The current study investigated two questions: a) is there a difference in psychosocial problems between adolescents who have experienced a single episode of alcohol intoxication (AIG) and a control group? And b) is there a difference in the perception of adolescents and parents? For both the effect of gender was explored. Participants were adolescents admitted to Tergooi hospitals with alcohol intoxication between 2011 and 2014, and their parents, and a control group was included. Data consisted of questionnaires measuring psychosocial problems two to three years after the incident. No significant differences in psychosocial problems between the AIG and control group were found. When split by gender, boys in the control group showed significantly more aggressive behavior than AIG boys, while AIG girls showed significantly more problems than girls in the control group on some of the scales. A significant discrepancy between adolescents’ and parents’ perception of psychosocial problems was found, with adolescents scoring higher than their parents. This difference exists more for girls than boys. This study showed the importance of the use of multiple informants, and may be used to provide better guidance for adolescents who experience alcohol intoxication in the future.