INTRODUCTION:

How true! Once man starts to drink, there is no end and then drink not only takes the man but it also takes the entire family along. Alcohol is a group of substances, with the technical name of alcohol beverage as ethanol, or ethyl alcohol; popularly known as alcohol. (James, 1999). Alcohol produces sedation by depressing the central nervous system. Depending on the amount of alcohol ingested, the effect can range from feelings of mild sedation and relaxation to serious impairments of motor functions, speech, confusion and severe intoxication that can result in coma, respiratory failure and death (Boyd and Nihart, 1998). The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Science (NIMHANS) in Bangalore (2000) reveals that 70% of HIV patients were alcoholics and they were teenagers. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi (2001) showed that every 5th teenagers between 15-19 age group in Delhi takes alcohol regularly. 3,00,000 are addicted and another lakh needs medical attention for alcohol related disorders.¹Alcohol dependence syndrome is generally considered an adult disorder that develops over a period of many years, but the use of alcohol by the adolescent and young people is very common and increasing. Laskin (1996) compared alcohol users above 20 years of age on different countries, the highest numbers were found in France. (5,200 per one lakh population) followed by the United States (4,760 per lakh), Switzerland (2,655 per lakh), Denmark (2,260 per lakh), Sweden (2,250 per lakh), Norway (2,250 per lakh), Canada (2,140 per lakh), Australia (1,640 per lakh), England (1,530 per lakh) and Italy (1,100 per lakh) (as cited by AHUJA 1997).²Heavy alcohol use has been associated with a number of types of liver injury, various cardiac injuries, immune system depression, damage to endocrine system and reproductive function. Alcoholism is also associated with a high incidence of serious and fatal injuries, high-risk behavior and suicide.³The consequences of living with an alcoholic are also significant. Families must deal with emotions such as anger towards the alcoholic and guilt over what role they believe they may play in the addiction. Family breakdown, financial problems, legal problems and psychological troubles all result from alcoholism. Society as a whole also pays a price for the alcoholic's addiction. Employers may see productivity affected. Police and law courts may deal with crimes committed by alcoholics while they are drunk. The health-care system pays for treatment of alcoholics, either for illnesses resulting from alcoholism or for treatment of the disease itself. ⁴Sadock and Sadock (2003): Found that approximately 70% of adults with college degrees currently are drinkers, compared to only 40% of those with less than a high school education. These statistics dispel the idea that drinking is often associated with lower – educational levels. Individuals with a college education may use alcohol to reduce stress or to socialize.¹

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

Alcohol problems are associated with life style and socio-economic conditions of people. These are becoming more – prevalent in adolescents – both boys and girls mainly because of their risk taking behavior and more over the emotional control of family; the moral control of school and the social control of community are declining. Information explosion and communication across cultural boundaries through mass media have lot of influence on behavior pattern of adolescents all over the world. In India, the prevalence of drug abuse, which is generally low in early adolescence, aged 12 and 13 rises – steeply in the late teenage and is highest during the early 20’s.⁵Alcohol consumption has been steadily increasing in developing countries like India and decreasing in developed countries since the 1980s.The pattern of drinking to intoxication is more prevalent in developing countries indicating higher levels of risk due to drinking.62.5 million alcohol users are estimated in India. Per capita consumption of alcohol increased by 106.75% over the period from 1970 to 1996.⁶Media Vision India (2004): In India, it has been estimated that 40-50% of all males drink alcohol as compared to less than 1% of female adults. So alcoholism appears to be predominantly a male disorder especially in India.Because of the influence of urbanization peer pressure, westernization, media, curiosity and age, the college students are more prone to alcohol abuse.¹D’COSTA G, et. al, (2007) Conducted a cross-sectional study of 1567general practice attendees in Goa, India. reported that a total of 338 men (41%) and 597 women (81%) never consumed alcohol. One hundred and twenty-eight people or 8.2 scored >or=8 on the AUDIT (123 (15%) men and 5 (0.7%) women) and were classified as harmful or dependent drinkers. Doctors identified almost 60% of them as problem drinkers but misidentified approximately 5% of moderate drinkers as problem drinkers.⁷Young adolescents are at risk of alcohol related problems and are noted as special population in need of services in the report by the institute of medicine (1990). Young adolescents as a group are heaviest drinkers in America and other Western societies. In India to the trend is increasing in favor of alcohol use among student population. Worldwide, alcohol accounted for 3.5% of the global burden of disease, 1.5% of all deaths, 2.1% of all life years lost and 6% of all years lost to disability. In other words, the relative impact of alcohol on disability is considerably larger than its impact on mortality (Murray and Lopez, 1996).⁴PAL HR, YADAV S et al., (2003) studied about the Treatment non -seeking in alcohol users: a community-based study from North India. Reported that the majority (n=40) considered alcohol use a “social” problem. Among the reasons fro not seeking treatment, the two most commonly cited were “ashamed to admit problems” and “treatment does not help” in 26.5% (n=21) and 22.8% (n = 18), respectively.⁸JOHANSON, et al., (1988) environment also influence a great deal on the formation of positive attitude. In college campuses, different living arrangements are associated with different pattern of drinking. Similarly socio-economic status and family also influences the use of alcohol in youngsters.⁹The investigator felt that there is need to probe on the attitude and practice of adolescents on alcoholism. The finding will contribute in reducing the problems of alcohol abuse. It is widely established that the problem of alcoholism is closely associated with the problem of human relationship, culture and behavior. Hence such understanding on alcoholism among adolescents, effective prevention programme depends on behavioral – strategies, will help to control the use of alcohol by bringing about a positive attitude towards alcohol – abstinence in a person’s life and to society.So the researcher decided to conduct a study to find out the influence of certain selected variables on the attitude and practice of adolescents towards alcohol.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

“A Descriptive Study on Attitude and Practice towards Alcoholism among Adolescents in selected college, Mysore”

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To determine the attitude of alcoholism among adolescents in selected college, Mysore.

2. To determine the practice of alcoholism among adolescents in selected college, Mysore.

3. To find the relationship between attitude and practice towards alcoholism among adolescents in selected college, Mysore.

4. To find the association between selected background factors and attitude and practice towards alcoholism among adolescents in selected college, Mysore.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS:

Attitude:

Refers to the expressed feelings of adolescents regarding alcoholism, which was measured by using attitude scale. Attitude on alcoholism was measured in terms of attitude scores.

Practice:

Refers to the drinking habit or behavior of adolescents which was measured by questionnaire. Practice on alcoholism was measured in terms of practice scores.

Adolescents:

Refers to males aged about 16 to 18 years who reported to have drinking habit and were studying in selected college and who fulfilled sample selected criteria.

Selected Background factors:

Refers to those factors which were thought to influence the attitude and practice of adolescents towards alcoholism such as age, religion, optional subjects in PUC, education of parents, part time job, place of stay, pocket money per month, family income, drinking father.

Alcoholism:

Refers to a chronic dependence characterized by compulsive drinking of alcohol to such a degree that it produces mental disturbance, interferes with social and economic functioning. Attitude and practice related to alcoholism was measured in this study.

HYPOTHESIS:

H₁ :

There will be a significant relationship between the attitude and practice regarding alcoholism among adolescents.

H₂:

There will be a significant association between the attitude regarding alcoholism among adolescents in relation to their selected background factors such as age, religion, optional subjects in PUC, education of parents, part time job, and place of stay, packet money per month, family income and drinking father.

H₃:

There will be a significant association between the practice regarding alcoholism among adolescents in relation to their selected background factors such as age, religion, optional subjects in PUC, education, part time job, and place of stay, packet money per month, family income and drinking father.

ASSUMPTIONS:

1. Attitude of the adolescents can be assessed by using an attitude scale

2. Practice of the adolescents can be assessed by using structured interview questionnaire.

DELIMITATION:

· The study was limited to the Pre-university students of Mysore city, with science or arts or commerce as their optional subjects.

· Students were selected by purposive sampling method.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

The conceptual framework is modified from the Pender’s Health Behavior Model, as shown in fig. 1.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Research Approach:

Non-experimental approach was adopted in this study.

Research Design:

A descriptive correlation approach was used for the study.

Setting of the Study:

the study was conducted in JSS Mahavidya Samsthe, PU College, Devalapura, Mysore.

Population:

The population of the study were adolescents.

Sample and sample size:

100 adolescents.

Sampling Technique:

Purposive sampling technique was used in this study.

Variables of the study:

Independent Variable:

Alcoholism,

Dependent Variables:

Attitude and Practice of adolescents towards alcoholism.

Associate Variables:

Selected background factors.

Selection of Tool:

A structured interview schedule was developed to collect data on background factors and Attitude and Practices of alcoholism among adolescents.

Description of the Tool:

the tool was developed with 3 sections as follows:

Section – A: Data on background data:

The tool contained items seeking information regarding general background factors like age, religion, optional subject in PUC, education of parents, part-time job, place of stay, pocket money per month, family income and drinking father.

Section – B: Semantic differential scale on attitude regarding alcoholism:

The tool contained 20 items to know the attitude of adolescents regarding alcoholism. Out of 20 items, This section had questions regarding Attitude towards alcoholism as a substance-4 items, alcoholism in health-4 items, alcoholism in psychological health -5 items, alcoholism and social life- 4 items, and overcoming alcoholism-3 items. Adjectives antonyms were placed on either side of the items. Positive and negative adjectives were alternatively placed in the tool.

Attitude of the adolescents regarding alcoholism was measured in terms of Attitude scores. Attitude was scored on a 7-point Semantics Differential scale, where the scores were given as follows –

Strongly agree. 7 scores

Agree. 6 scores

Slightly agree 5 scores

Neutral / not sure 4 scores

Slight disagree 3 scores

Disagree. 2 scores

Strongly disagree 1 scores

The total attitude score was 140, The subsections had the following scores -

· alcoholism as a substance - 28 scores

· alcoholism in health - 28 scores

· alcoholism in Psycho. Health - 35 scores

· alcoholism and social life - 28 scores

· overcoming alcoholism - 21 scores

The Higher the score, the attitude was favorable towards alcoholism and lower the score, the attitude was unfavorable towards alcoholism.

Section –C: Data on Practice regarding Alcoholism:

The tool used was a standardized tool called AUDIT (Alcohol use disorder identification test) scale WHO, 1992. Contained 10 items seeking to know the present or appropriate practices of adolescents regarding alcoholism. The items measured alcohol use, dependence on alcohol and consequences of alcohol. There were 3-5 responses according to items. The practice on alcohol was measured in terms of practice scores. The maximum score was 38. The scoring of individual items are given in Annexure C (Section C). Higher the score, the practice of alcoholism was more.

Data Analysis:

In the present study, the statistical analysis was done in accordance to the objectives of the study .The data were analyzed as follows……

1. Data on demographic factors of adolescents regarding alcoholism were analyzed using frequency distribution and percentage.

2. Data on Attitude of adolescents regarding alcoholism was analyzed using Mean and SD.

3. Data on practice of adolescents regarding alcoholism was analyzed using Mean and SD.

4. Data on correlation between Attitude and practice of adolescents regarding alcoholism were analyzed using Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation.

5. Data on Association between attitude and practice of adolescents regarding alcoholism and various selected background variables were analyzed using linear regression.

RESULTS:

The Data was presented under the following headings:

Section-A: Data on background factors of adolescents regarding alcoholism.

Majority of adolescents were age group of 17 years(53%) , Majority (99%) were Hindus, Majority (92%) were from Arts, Majority (38%) of mother s had done secondary education and Majority (38%)of fathers had done secondary education, Majority (65%) were doing part time job, Majority (95%) were staying in house, Majority (59%)were getting less than Rs 200 /- packet money per month, Majority (27%) were in the group of Rs 1000 to 2000 per month family income. Majority (59%) father were drinking.

Section-B: Data on Attitude of Adolescents on various aspects of Alcoholism.

The obtained mean values of ‘alcoholism is a substance’ was M=13.93 (SD=5.98), ‘alcoholism in health’ was M=17.93 (SD=4.83), ‘alcoholism in psycho. Health’ was M= 21.87 (SD=6.15), ‘alcoholism and social life’ was M=17.64 (SD=4.38), ‘overcoming alcoholism was M=14.70 (4.62).

It was inferred that, the attitude of adolescents were unfavorable regarding, alcoholism is a substance, alcoholism in health, alcoholism and social life. However the attitude towards psycho health and alcoholism, and overcoming alcoholism were favorable.

Section C: Data on Practice of adolescents regarding alcoholism.

The obtained mean value of practice was M= 10.51 (SD=6.86) shows low practice regarding alcoholism among adolescents.

It was inferred that, the practice of alcoholism was fairly low among adolescents.

Section D: Data on Correlation of Attitude and Practice of Adolescents regarding Alcoholism.

The obtained coefficient correlation between attitude and practice among adolescents were r = (0.28) P<0.01 was significant, therefore null hypothesis was rejected. It was inferred that, there was significant correlation between attitude and practice. The attitude and practice among adolescent regarding alcoholism was fairly average and low respectively.

NURSING IMPLICATIONS:

The study findings have thrown new light on the implications of the future. It has implication related to nursing education, nursing practice, nursing administration and nursing research.

Nursing Education:

· Integration of theory and practice is vital need and its important in nursing profession. Therefore nursing educator can use the result of the study as an information to the students.

· The nursing curriculum should emphasize on imparting health information to community using different teaching methods. So nursing students should be educated on health promotion activities.

· The students and teachers can work together in community area to disseminate knowledge on alcoholism and drug abuse among adolescents.

Nursing Practice:

· More health education activities can be initiated among adolescents to develop a good attitude towards alcoholism.

· Community health nurses are in the best position to effectively teach the adolescents regarding harmful effect of alcoholism.

· A public health nurse can arrange orientation programme for adolescents about alcoholism.

· The school health programmes need to be conducted for screening of the children including alcoholism.

Nursing Research:

· The study findings would help to expand the scientific body of knowledge upon which further researches can be conducted.

· The large scale studies can be conducted by following various methods of research.

· The research should be continued on assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of adolescents on alcoholism.

LIMITATIONS:

· Sample size could have been larger.

· Difficulty in contacting the samples during college holidays.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· The study can be done on a large sample.

· The study can be done on alcoholism focusing the sample as females also.

· The study can be done for alcoholism on industrial workers, paurakaramikas, executives, who are more prone to alcoholism.

· The experimental study can done on alcoholism among adolescents.

· The comparative study can be done on different communities like urban and rural.

REFERENCES:

1. Selvaraj, P. 2007 "A study on alcoholism among students "Nursing Times Journal 31 (5) : 9-19.

2. Editorial in "The Hindustan Times " April 15, 1997.

3. Park. K., "Text Book of Preventive and Social - Medicine" Nineteenth Edition, Banarasidas Bhanot Publication, 2007.

4. Singhal, Nagalakshmi, 1992 "Psycho-social study. NIMHANS Journal.

5. Krishna Kumari Gulani, "Community Health Nursing", First Edition, Kumar Publication, 2006.

6. www.indianalcoholpolicy.org

7. D’ Costa G, et al., 2007" Harmful alcohol use in Goa, India, and its associations with violence; A study in primary care", Alcohol Alcohol; 42 (2): 131-7. Eput 2006 Dec. 15.

8. Pal H.R, Yadav, S., et al., 2003 "Treating nonseeking in alcohol users: a community based study from North India " Journal student alcohol. 2003 Sept; 64 (5) : 631 - 633.

9. Johnson E.H., Social problems of Urban man Illinosis ; Dorsey Press. 1973.

Received on 11.10.2016 Modified on 22.10.2016

Int. J. Adv. Nur. Management. 2017; 5(1): 59-64.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2652.2017.00013.0