Brazilian high school students conceptions about alcoholic beverages

Abstract

Alcohol consumption is high among adolescents. It is important to implement preventive policies to avoid alcohol consumption by adolescents. We assessed the preconceptions of 171 Brazilian adolescents (15 to 18 years) from high school, on the use of alcohol. We compared students’ view with the scientific information to inform educators about the potential social and biological hazards of ethanol consumption that could be used as support material in the classroom. Students’ approval of alcohol consumption was high. However, the knowledge about chronic toxicological risks of alcohol consumption was almost absent. These results indicate that, in the students' conception, the neurobiological reward provided by alcohol outweighs the negative impacts of this substance. Thus, we strongly suggest that basic school curricula must cover the socio-toxicological effects of ethanol consumption as a strategy to increase the visibility and perceptions about the negative impact of alcohol consumption.