Abstract
BackgroundAlcohol use and misuse and their relation to sociodemograhic factors are well studied among university students in Western European countries and the USA, but less is known about students in Eastern Europe. The historical past as communistic countries might have affected the social life among these populations, which is again one of the main factors determining the alcohol consumption among university students. The aim of our study was to assess the association of selected sociodemographic factors with different patterns of alcohol use among university students in Slovakia.MethodsA sample of 813 young adults (mean age 21.1 years, 63.8% females; response rate of 71%) from four universities in Kosice answered questions about their sociodemographic background and about alcohol use. To obtain a detailed picture of different aspects, alcohol use was measured by four variables: frequency of alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking, frequency of drunkenness and problem drinking. Four separate logistic regression models were used to assess the association between sociodemographic and alcohol-related variables. To assess the potentially different effects in both genders, all two-way interactions with gender were tested.ResultsWhile 41% of the students drank alcohol once a week or more often, 77% reported heavy episodic drinking and 49% had been drunk more than once in the last month. Problem drinking existed in 23.3% of the sample. Gender was consistently associated with all four alcohol-related variables, with males being at higher risk. A higher study year was associated only with lower levels of heavy episodic drinking, but displayed no association with the other studied variables. Living with parents during the semester was consistently associated with less frequent heavy episodic drinking, drunkenness episodes, and problem drinking while having an intimate relationship was associated with less problem drinking only.ConclusionsOur findings for the university students from Slovakia are in line with previous studies in Western Europe. Additionally, it appears that frequent alcohol use, excessive alcohol use (heavy episodic drinking and drunkenness) and problem drinking among university students represent a continuum and are influenced by the same sociodemographic factors.
Highlights
Alcohol use and misuse and their relation to sociodemograhic factors are well studied among university students in Western European countries and the USA, but less is known about students in Eastern Europe
There are a number of other risk and protective factors associated with alcohol consumption in young adults, the scope of our analysis covers a subset of sociodemographic variables which are linked to, and seem to be important for, the university environment
In order to close this gap in the knowledge, we studied alcohol-drinking behavior among university students in Slovakia
Summary
Alcohol use and misuse and their relation to sociodemograhic factors are well studied among university students in Western European countries and the USA, but less is known about students in Eastern Europe. The aim of our study was to assess the association of selected sociodemographic factors with different patterns of alcohol use among university students in Slovakia. Gender A substantial body of research indicates that males are more likely to drink alcohol, consume higher amounts of alcohol and are more likely to be alcohol dependent in comparison with females. These findings are consistent across different countries and cultures [9,10,11]. Gender gaps in the prevalence of heavy episodic drinking for example have become smaller or disappeared in some European countries (such as Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom) among late adolescents or university students in recent years [19,20]
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