Abstract

Alcohol is the most used substance which has established negative evidence among adolescents in South Africa. To curtail the consequences of adolescent alcohol use, there is a need to examine trends and determinants to decipher intervention in South Africa. This study aimed to examine trends and determinants of alcohol use among adolescents in South Africa. Five cross-sectional South African National HIV Prevalence, HIV Incidence, Behaviour and Communication surveys were used. Associations and determinants of alcohol use by sociodemographic characteristics were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A total of 28411 adolescents aged 12-19 across South Africa participated in the surveys from 2002 to 2017. Adolescent alcohol use was measured from the consistent survey question: “Do you drink alcohol?” the responses were dichotomous variables: 0 for “No” and 1 for “Yes”. Predictor variables examined were age, sex, race, province, place of residence and ever engaged in sexual intercourse. Alcohol consumption increased from 15.9% in 2002 reaching a peak of 32.6% in 2012 and declined sharply to 12.8% in 2017. In all the survey years, age was associated with alcohol use, females were significantly less likely to report alcohol use compared to males. compared to coloured adolescents, the whites were more likely, while the Africans were less likely to be drinkers. Adolescents in an urban location and having engaged in sexual intercourse were more likely to report alcohol use compared to their counterparts in the surveys. The findings of the study revealed that any prevention programme to curb alcohol use should target males, whites and urban adolescents and those who have engaged in sexual intercourse as they represent a vulnerable population.