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