Risk factors of heavy episodic drinking among Korean adolescents.

The main objective of this study was to identify the risk factors and develop a decision tree model of heavy episodic drinking (HED) among adolescents. Data were obtained from a representative nationwide Korean population. Nine variables (such as last 30 days smoking, school grade, sex, depression, school achievement, level of stress, region, and economic status) were found as risk factors of HED. On the highest level of the tree root, major classification rule was played by dividing based on the last 30 days smoking and school grades. These findings should be helpful for school and mental healthcare providers to detect Korean adolescents with high possibility of HED, which will aid in planning of healthcare interventions for at-risk adolescents.