Abstract

Alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence among the youths have become a global burden hindering development, imparting high expenditures on treatment and counseling the victims of alcoholism as well as the accelerated domestic violence and its effects. Uganda in general and Bushenyi Ishaka in particular, alcohol constitutes an important role for road traffic accidents and other related crimes. This study was planned to assess the factors influencing the youth to alcoholism. A descriptive cross sectional study design, quantitative in nature was carried out. Using convenience sampling a total of 96 respondents were recruited in the study. All of the 96 questionnaires were returned completely filled. Majority (71%) strongly agreed that social deprivation was a leading cause to alcoholism among the youth. Other identified risks included personal characteristics (73%), mental problems (63%) and peer influence and exposure being supported by 67.7% to be a contributor to alcoholism among youth. It is recommended that controlling advertisement through the media, hiking prices for the alcoholic drinks and putting laws governing alcohol consumption among the youth would reduce the trend.