%0 Journal Article %T Does Risk Perception Affect Alcohol Consumption among Secondary School Students in Jamaica? %J Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention %I West Asia Organization for Cancer Prevention (WAOCP), APOCP's West Asia Chapter. %Z 1513-7368 %A Oshi, Sarah N %A Abel, Wendel D %A Ricketts-Roomes, Tana %A Meka, Ijeoma A %A Harrison, Joy %A Weaver, Steve %A Agu, Chinwendu F %A Whitehorne-Smith, Patrice %A Omeje, Joachim %A Rae, Tania %A Oshi, Daniel C %D 2018 %\ 04/01/2018 %V 19 %N S1 %P 13-18 %! Does Risk Perception Affect Alcohol Consumption among Secondary School Students in Jamaica? %K risk perception %K alcohol consumption %K Alcohol use %K secondary school students %K Jamaica %R 10.22034/APJCP.2018.19.S1.13 %X Background: Alcohol consumption among young people is a major public health problem world-wide and inJamaica. A number of factors have been reported to affect alcohol use among high school students. The aim of this studywas to investigate the influence of perception of the harmfulness of alcohol on alcohol use among secondary schoolstudents in Jamaica. Methods: Data collected from a nationally representative sample of 3,365 students were analyzed.Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using SPSS. Results: Students’ perception of risk of drinkingalcohol frequently and getting drunk respectively had positive and significant associations with past month alcohol use(AOR= 1.44, 95% CI= 1.09- 1.88 and AOR= 1.38, 95% CI= 1.02- 1.86, respectively) compared to students who feltthat drinking alcohol frequently and getting drunk were very harmful. Males, 12 years or younger were significantly lesslikely to use alcohol in the past month (AOR= 0.77, 95% CI=0.60- 0.97; AOR= 0.68, 95% CI= 0.53-0.97 respectively).Students with good relationship with their mothers were less likely to use alcohol in the past year and past month(AOR= 0.55, 95% CI= 0.35-0.87; AOR= 0.50, 95% CI= 0.32- 0.78). Conclusion: Risk perception of the harmfulnessof alcohol significantly affects alcohol use among secondary school students in Jamaica. Males, 12 years or younger,who had good relationship with mothers, were significantly less likely to use alcohol in past month %U https://journal.waocp.org/article_60398_827bc6f354ce10138f9d00d9ce380814.pdf