FITeens Toolkit

76 Adolescent alcohol use has important health consequences. Alcohol consumption in adolescence and young adulthood can progressively lead to alcohol dependence in adulthood. Drinking as a teenager has been associated with adverse outcomes such as fatal and non-fatal injuries, blackouts, suicide attempts, unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, academic failure, and violence (Boden & Fergusson, 2011). The impact of harmful use of alcohol is not just personal, it may also impose significant social and economic costs on society. The economic cost of alcohol abuse is estimated at more than $235 billion every year. More than 70% of the estimated cost of alcohol abuse is attributed to lost productivity. Other costs are largely the result of alcohol- related health care, motor vehicle accidents, and law enforcement and other criminal justice expenses (Burke, 1988). Tackling higher-risk alcohol use forms a significant part of reducing alcohol-related harm in adolescents. Health, safety, and socioeconomic problems attributable to alcohol can be reduced when teachers and persons of authority formulate and implement appropriate policies. Raising awareness of the health and social problems for individuals and society at large caused by the harmful use of alcohol is of utmost importance (WHO, 2018). Feedback of behavior, self-monitoring of behavior, self-monitoring of outcomes related to the behavior, instructions on how to reduce alcohol consumption, social comparison and problem solving have been also described as important behavior change techniques on reducing alcohol consumption.