Relation between current alcohol consumption and attitude towards alcohol use among students

Introduction
The aim of the study was to examine the frequency and amount of alcohol consumption in relation to students’ attitude to alcohol drinking.

Material and methods
A sample of 908 second year technical university students (30% of women) of 19 to 36 years of age (M = 21.23; SD = 1.26) participated in this cross-sectional survey using the PBS questionnaire “Students 2004”.

Results
The results indicated that female students drank significantly less alcohol, and they also had more negative attitudes towards alcohol than male. As expected, those students who drank regularly and excessively declared a significantly lower level of disapproval of behaviours associated with risky drinking, and also they perceived this behaviour as lower risk compared to students who drank occasionally and moderately. According to the assumptions, alcohol drinking was correlated positively with a tolerant attitude towards alcohol. In addition, Disapproval Scale and Risk Perception Scale correlated positively. Multiple regression analysis showed that the strongest predictor of alcohol drinking was disapproval towards alcohol in addition to male gender and the risk-perception of drinking. All three variables explained 24% of the variance of alcohol drinking.

Discussion
According to the hypotheses and previous studies, male gender and tolerant attitude towards alcohol are important risk factors of regular and excessive drinking. An attitude of approval towards alcohol drinking is the best indicator of alcohol abuse.

Conclusions
Preventive activities at universities should be focused on changing attitudes and perception of the risks of excessive drinking especially among male students.