Abstract
Alcohol consumption is considered one of the factors with the greatest impact on health. In turn, the use/abuse of alcohol also presents itself as one of the main factors responsible for the involvement in sexual risk behaviours by young people. Therefore, understanding the main reasons that lead young people to consume alcohol is essential to invest in promoting their health and preventing sexual risk behaviours. This paper aims to study the validation of the Portuguese version of the DMQ-R SF in young people aged between 18 and 24 years old and to understand whether the reasons for drinking alcohol are associated with sexual risk behaviours and characteristics of groups of young people. The study includes 1166 young people, with an average age of 21.1 years (SD = 1.92), 72.3% being female. Most participants reported having drunk alcohol in the last 12 months (78.4%) and having had sexual intercourse (89.6%). More than one third of the participants reported having had sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol or other drugs (39.2%) and 23.5% reported having occasional sexual partners. The reasons for drinking alcohol can be broken down into four types, namely personal satisfaction (enjoyment), social reasons (socialization), social integration (peer pressure), and reasons for dealing with uneasy situations or to overcome difficulties and relieve feelings that generate unease (coping). Regarding sexual behaviours, a significant relationship was found between the reasons for drinking alcohol and the two previously mentioned sexual risk behaviours, suggesting the need for the development of public policies aimed at education and health promotion of young people, including the implementation of educational practices in the academic environment, in the community and in health units.
Highlights
There is evidence in the literature that points to the stage of adolescence and youth as life stages directly associated with involvement in risk behaviours (MacArthur, Harrison, Caldwell, Hickman, & Campbell, 2016; Reis et al, 2015)
This paper aims to study the validation of the Portuguese version of the DMQ-R SF in young people aged between 18 and 24 years old and to understand whether the reasons for drinking alcohol are associated with sexual risk behaviours and characteristics of groups of young people
A significant relationship was found between the reasons for drinking alcohol and the two previously mentioned sexual risk behaviours, suggesting the need for the development of public policies aimed at education and health promotion of young people, including the implementation of educational practices in the academic environment, in the community and in health units
Summary
There is evidence in the literature that points to the stage of adolescence and youth as life stages directly associated with involvement in risk behaviours (MacArthur, Harrison, Caldwell, Hickman, & Campbell, 2016; Reis et al, 2015). The use/abuse of alcohol presents itself as one of the main causes of youth involvement in sexual risk behaviours: multiple sexual partners, occasional partners, non-use of condoms, resulting in increased exposure to sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy (Griffin, Botvin, & Nichols, 2006; Liu et al, 2006; Ramiro, Reis, Matos, & Diniz, 2014; Reis, Ramiro, Camacho, Tomé, & Matos, 2018). Episodic, or continuous drinking, before or during sexual behaviour, is associated with higher rates of adoption of risky sexual behaviour, moderate drinking has been shown to be related to unsafe sex (Bailey, Bartholow, Saults & Lust, 2014; Bell, Rodd, Engleman, Toalston & McBride, 2014; Ramiro, Reis, Matos, & Diniz, 2014; Reis, Ramiro, Matos, & Diniz, 2013)
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