title: Alcohol and substance use among Japanese high school students.
abstract: In the first large-scale survey on the use of alcohol and tobacco and the inhalation of paint thinner by Japanese high school students, a higher percentage of respondents reported past or regular use of these substances than in a 1978 survey. The survey was conducted in 44 high schools. The 14,438 respondents (ages 15-18 years) represented 9 of Japan's 47 geographically distinct urban and rural prefectures. Most (76%) reported that they had consumed alcohol at some time, and 50% reported drinking on a regular basis. Alcohol consumption, drinking partners, and motivation for drinking were compared by student gender, geographic region, and years of education. Fewer students reported smoking cigarettes: 32% had smoked at some time, and 14% smoked regularly. Inhalation of paint thinner was rare: 3% had purposely inhaled it, and 1% had abused it. A significant percentage of the alcohol drinkers also used tobacco and/or thinner, a tendency that was the same despite differences in gender, grade in high school, and urban or rural geographic region. A tendency toward polysubstance use was evident among these high school students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Institute on Alcoholism, Kurihama National Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hayashida
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data