Attitudes of adolescents and their mothers to the problem of early alcohol consumption

In recent decades, in many countries of Europe and the world, there has been a tendency for an earlier onset of alcohol consumption among adolescents, unfortunately, in this aspect, Ukraine is no exception. Aim. To study various aspects of alcohol use by adolescents and the level of awareness of their mothers to determine measures to prevent adolescent alcoholism in Ukraine. Materials and Methods. As part of the longitudinal study "Family and Children of Ukraine", the personal data of 989 adolescents aged 15-18 years (499 boys and 490 girls) and 1075 mothers were analyzed. Bibliosemantic, sociological and medical-statistical research methods are used. Results and Discussion. During 2014-2019, the share of children and adolescents hospitalized with acute poisoning in the intensive care unit of the National Children's Specialized Hospital "OKHMATDIT" of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine increased from 20.6 to 36.7 %. Research has shown that the vast majority of Ukrainian adolescents (75 %) consume alcohol during their lifetime; 31.0 % of adolescents have done so more than 10 times, and their first attempt to drink alcohol occurs at the age of 9 years and younger among both boys and girls. The survey found that 50.6% of adolescents confirmed that they had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days, of which 7.5% of adolescents admitted that they did so more than once a week. The survey allowed to determine the peculiarities of the use of various alcoholic beverages by adolescents in Ukraine: teenagers first "get acquainted" with beer, wine or champagne at the age of 14-15; alcoholic cocktail teenage girls consume for the first time 2 times more often at the age of 15; strong alcoholic beverages are most often consumed for the first time by adolescents aged 15–16 years. It was found that only half of the surveyed mothers (48.4 %) were aware of the fact of alcohol consumption by their adolescent children, while 40.7 % of mothers categorically forbid their children to drink alcohol, 46.5 % of mothers consider it undesirable, 8.7 % mothers do not prohibit alcohol in small quantities. Conclusions. The results of the study prove that the problem of alcohol consumption by children and adolescents in Ukraine remains relevant and requires immediate development of preventive measures for implementation in both school and family environments. Given the insufficient level of awareness of mothers about the fact of alcohol consumption by their children and the insufficient level of understanding of mothers of the dangers of this phenomenon, the need for further research on the prevention of alcohol dependence in adolescence is justified. Key Words: adolescents, alcoholic beverages, mothers of adolescents.