Alcohol Use Disorders among Slovak and Czech University Students: A Closer Look at Tobacco Use, Cannabis Use and Socio-Demographic Characteristics.

Viera Ivankova,Beata Gavurova,Martin Rigelsky

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111565

Abstract

The main objective of the research was to examine the associations between problematic alcohol use, tobacco use and cannabis use among Czech and Slovak university students during the early COVID-19 pandemic. The research sample consisted of 1422 participants from the Czech Republic (CZ) and 1677 from the Slovak Republic (SK). The analyses included university students who drank alcohol in the past year (CZ: 1323 (93%); SK: 1526 (91%)). Regarding the analysed measures, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and its subscales, the Glover-Nilsson Smoking Behavioral Questionnaire (GN-SBQ) and the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST) were selected to identify substance-related behaviour. Age, gender and residence were included in the analyses as socio-demographic variables. Correlation and regression analyses were used to achieve the main objective of the research. The main results revealed that the use of tobacco and cannabis were positively associated with alcohol use disorders among Czech and Slovak university students. Additionally, males were more likely to report alcohol use disorders. In the Czech Republic, it was found that students living in dormitories were characterized by a lower AUDIT score. The opposite situation was found in the Slovak Republic. Czech and Slovak policy-makers are encouraged to develop alcohol use prevention programs for university students in line with these findings.

Highlights

IntroductionEspecially university students, are a population group at risk of unhealthy and harmful behaviours in terms of the use of addictive substances such as alcohol, tobacco or cannabis [1–3]
Understanding the situation is important in the current pandemic period for the development of successful strategies and programs aimed at reducing alcohol use among students, who are seen as the driving force of the economy in the future, and as potential consumers of social support and health care. These facts reinforce the importance of the findings offered by the presented study, especially in the geographical region of the Czech Republic and the Slovak
This section is devoted to the examination of the relationships between alcohol use disorders and tobacco use, cannabis use and selected socio-demographic characteristics of the participants

Summary

Introduction

Especially university students, are a population group at risk of unhealthy and harmful behaviours in terms of the use of addictive substances such as alcohol, tobacco or cannabis [1–3]. The vulnerability of this population group is evidenced by a considerable prevalence of dependence to alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs [4]. According to Nasui et al [8], both male and female university drinkers engaged in other risky behaviours correlated with drinking These patterns of behaviour have many consequences, whether it is a threat to health and life [9], reduced academic performance, missed classes and lower grades, memory blackouts, changes in brain function, lingering cognitive deficits, sexual assaults [10], and poor mental health [11] or social problems [12].

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Discussion

Conclusion