Reasons for alcohol consumption among Japanese high school students overall and by sex and year in school: An exploratory study.

This study sought to ascertain the association between alcohol consumption by Japanese high school students and their reasons for drinking. Monitoring the Future is a U.S. survey of substance abuse that features a core question that asks about reasons for drinking. This study translated that question into Japanese to survey 2,283 students (1,404 males and 879 females; 1,142 freshmen and 1,141 sophomores) at 3 Japanese high schools from November to December 2014. The original question had 15 possible answers, but 2 were eliminated and the answer "I don't drink" was added. Responses were analyzed overall and by sex and year. Results indicated that 9.4% of male students drank in the past 30 days, 28.4% drank in the past year, and 43.0% had drunk at some point in their lives. Similarly, 6.5% of female students drank in the past 30 days, 23.8% drank in the past year, and 36.7% had drunk at some point in their lives. Of the sample, 58.1% answered that they "don't drink. " Given reasons for drinking were "because it tastes good" (15.8%), "to-experiment-to see what it's like" (14.5%), "to have a good time with my friends" (14.1%), "to relax or relieve tension" (10.2%), "to feel good or get high" (7.9%), and "to fit in with a group I like" (5.2%). Respondents who drank in the past 30 days, in the past year, or at some point in their lives did so for different reasons. As alcohol consumption increased, respondents drank "because it tastes good" markedly more often. Reasons for drinking were ranked by frequency to compare Japanese high school students and U.S. 12th graders. Japanese students were more likely to drink "to fit in with a group I like" while U.S. students were more likely to drink "because of boredom, nothing else to do."