Just over a third of Irish teenagers have ever been binge drinking, research finds

Teens who said their parents would be against or totally against them drinking a lot had 50% lower odds of ever binge drinking compared to those whose parents “would be a bit against it or would not care”. File picture

Just over one in three teenagers aged 15 to 16 have been binge drinking at least once with risk factors including taking part in team sports or parents not strongly disapproving, new Irish research has found.

The study found about 34.1% of participants reported ever binge drinking. Among the teenagers who have ever been binge drinking, some 41.1% of them reported one to two episodes previously and 22.5% reported three to five episodes previously.

Researchers, mainly from the HSE Department of Public Health West, defined binge drinking as ever having consumed five or more drinks in a two-hour period or less.

The likelihood of ever binge drinking was “almost 50% lower for females” compared to males.  Teens of non-white ethnicity “had 51% lower odds of ever binge drinking” compared to white teenagers.

The study relies on analysis of data gathered during the Planet Youth 2020 Survey across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon with responses from 4,473 adolescents.

“This study identified a high prevalence of ever binge drinking among 15–16-year-old adolescents in the West of Ireland, with nine risk factors and four protective factors independently associated with this alcohol-use behaviour," researchers said. 

The research team also includes members of the HSE Western Region Drug & Alcohol Task Force and Professor Diarmuid O’Donovan from the Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University, Belfast.

Overall in terms of where teenagers get their alcohol, the study shows: “Approximately one-third (33.3%) and one-fifth (18.0%) reported they sometimes, often or almost always sourced alcohol from their friends and parents respectively.” 

Teens who said their parents would be against or totally against them drinking a lot had 50% lower odds of ever binge drinking compared to those whose parents “would be a bit against it or would not care”. However, they also found: “Getting alcohol from parents increased the odds of ever binge drinking.” 

Peer influence from friends was another key issue, with 88.1% of those who responded saying they have friends who drink. “Adolescents with friends who drink alcohol had almost five times higher odds of ever binge drinking,” the study found.

Higher engagement with school was associated with lower odds of ever binge drinking. 

However, the study shows "the odds of ever binge drinking were 1.3 and 1.5 times higher for those who reported participating in team/club sports one to four times and five or more times per week respectively" compared to teens who not do any team sport. 

Teen mental health and cigarette smoking were also identified as risk factors.

“Compared to adolescents reporting ‘very good/good’ mental health, the odds of ever binge drinking were 1.6 times higher for adolescents who reported ‘bad/very bad’ mental health,” the study found.

“Compared to non-current users, the odds of ever binge drinking among those that reported current cigarette use were four times higher while the odds for those that reported current cannabis use were almost three times higher.” 

Adolescent binge drinking in the West of Ireland: associated risk and protective factors is published by the journal BMC Public Health.