Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Apr 14:16:333.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-2949-5.

Socioeconomic status and substance use among Swiss young men: a population-based cross-sectional study

Eleni Charitonidi  1   2 , Joseph Studer  3 , Jacques Gaume  3 , Gerhard Gmel  3 , Jean-Bernard Daeppen  3 , Nicolas Bertholet  3
Affiliations

Socioeconomic status and substance use among Swiss young men: a population-based cross-sectional study

Eleni Charitonidi et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) is often inversely related to health outcomes and is likely to play a role in the use of psychoactive substances among young individuals, although little consensus exists on the association between SES and substance use. The purpose of the study was to determine the association of three SES indicators (perceived family income, education level of participants, and parental education level) with past year use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, other illicit drugs and non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMPD) among Swiss young men.

Methods: Population-based cross-sectional study of 5,702 men at mean age twenty. Associations between SES indicators and substance use were assessed with regression models adjusted for age and linguistic region.

Results: Participants with average or below average perceived family income were less likely to report any use of alcohol (OR = O.75) but more likely to use tobacco daily (OR = 1.31) and cannabis weekly (OR = 1.27) compared to those with perceived above average family income. Participants whose parents had only achieved obligatory education were less likely to engage in any use of alcohol (OR = 0.30), monthly risky single occasion drinking (RSOD, defined as 6 or more drinks per occasion) (OR = 0.48), any use of cannabis (OR = 0.53) and other illicit drugs (OR = 0.58), whereas those whose parents had only achieved secondary education were less at risk of engaging in cannabis (OR = 0.66 for any use and OR = 0.77 for more than once a week use) and other illicit drugs (OR = 0.74) use, compared to those whose parents had achieved tertiary education. Compared to participants who completed secondary or tertiary education, those who completed only obligatory education reported a higher risk of tobacco (OR = 1.18 for any use, OR = 1.31 for daily use), cannabis (OR = 1.23 for any use, OR = 1.37 for more than once a week use), and other illicit drugs (OR = 1.48) use. No association was found between NMPD and the studied SES variables.

Conclusion: The relationship between SES and substance use was complex in this sample. Higher socioeconomic status was associated with more alcohol and other illicit drugs use, while lower socioeconomic status was related to more tobacco use. Education level and perceived family income may have different impacts on substance use and may vary by substance.

Keywords: Alcohol; Illicit drugs; Socio-economic status; Substance use; Tobacco.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Chen E, Miller GE. Socioeconomic status and health: mediating and moderating factors. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2013;9:723–49. doi: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185634. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Stringhini S, et al. Association of socioeconomic position with health behaviors and mortality. JAMA. 2010;303(12):1159–66. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.297. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mackenbach JP. The contribution of medical care to mortality decline: McKeown revisited. J Clin Epidemiol. 1996;49(11):1207–13. doi: 10.1016/S0895-4356(96)00200-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mackenbach JP, Stronks K, Kunst AE. The contribution of medical care to inequalities in health: differences between socio-economic groups in decline of mortality from conditions amenable to medical intervention. Soc Sci Med. 1989;29(3):369–76. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(89)90285-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adler NE, Stewart J. Preface to the biology of disadvantage: socioeconomic status and health. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010;1186:1–4. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05385.x. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types