Youth’s alcohol use and misuse is a public health problem due to its potential consequences. Acute consequences include accidents, other mortality factors, use of other drugs, withdrawal and hangover, risky sexual behaviors, poorer school performance or family functioning; while chronic use leads to effects on bone density and growth, liver function, brain development and mental health. For this reason, to date, most research on alcohol among young people refers to the prevalence of use or misuse and abstinence is rarely addressed.
In order to fill this gap related to abstainers, the objective of this research is to describe the characteristics of alcohol abstainers compared to other groups of drinkers, and whether abstinence evolves into alcohol use over time.