Acta Médica del Centro (Oct 2012)
Alcoholism a current problem
Abstract
A descriptive study was conducted to characterize the behavior of adolescents from dysfunctional families due to alcohol abuse in the health area of the Marta Abreu Polyclinic, in Santa Clara, from January 2010 to June 2011. As techniques of the investigative process, a test FF-SIL and an epidemiological questionnaire were applied to refine and psychological variables. The population consisted of all 50 adolescents between 11 and 15 years old, belonging to the Julio Pino Machado Joint Center, in the municipality of Santa Clara, Villa Clara province. Informed consent was sought. The chi-square statistic was used for the statistical processing of information variables: age, sex, marital status of parents, cohabitation, validism, family lifestyles, knowledge about alcoholism, alcohol intake, motivation to do so, alterations in adolescents, opinion of the teacher in relation to the care of the teenager at school by family members, school performance and behavior of adolescent. Its significance was determined by the statistic p. The most frequent harmful lifestyles were the daily intake of alcohol, fights and discussions, and misuse of family income. Adolescents did not recognize alcoholism as a disease, and the most common alterations were academic underachievement, difficulties in interpersonal relationships and alcohol consumption. Therefore, it is concluded that alcoholism is a health problem causing dysfunctionality in adolescents’ families.
