Santos, MGR, Sanchez, ZM, Hughes, K, Gee, I and Quigg, Z (2022) Pre-drinking, alcohol consumption and related harms amongst Brazilian and British university students. PLoS One, 17 (3). ISSN 1932-6203

Preview

Text Pre-drinking, alcohol consumption and related harms amongst Brazilian and British university students.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (571kB) | Preview

Abstract

Drinking in private or other unlicensed settings before going out (i.e., pre-drinking) is increasingly being identified as a common behaviour amongst students as it provides an opportunity to extend their drinking duration and socialise. However, studies suggest associations between pre-drinking and alcohol-related harms. This study examines Brazilian and British university students' pre-drinking patterns and associations with nightlife-related harms amongst drinkers. A total of 1,151 Brazilian and 424 British students (aged 18+ years) completed an online survey. The questionnaire covered sociodemographic variables, nightlife drinking behaviour including pre-drinking and past 12 months experience of alcohol-related harms. Most participants were female (BRA 59.1%, ENG 65.3%; p = 0.027), undergraduate students (BRA 88.2%, ENG 71.2%; p<0.001) and aged 18-25 years (BRA 78.8%, ENG 81.5%; p<0.001). Pre-drinking was more prevalent in England (82.8%) than Brazil (44.0%; p<0.001), yet Brazilian students drank more units of alcohol than British students when pre-drinking (BRA 17.6, ENG 12.1; p<0.001). In multi-variate analyses, pre-drinking was significantly associated with increased odds of experiencing a range of harms across both countries (e.g., blackouts; failing to attend university), with the strength of associations varying between countries. Pre-drinking in Brazil and in England is an important event before going out amongst university students, however our study shows it is associated with a range of harms in both countries. Thus, preventing pre-drinking may be a crucial strategy to reduce excessive alcohol consumption and related harms in the nightlife context across countries with diverse nightlife environments and alcohol drinking cultures.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions:	Public Health Institute
Publisher:	Public Library of Science
Related URLs:	Author
Date Deposited:	08 Apr 2022 11:33
Last Modified:	08 Apr 2022 11:45
DOI or ID number:	10.1371/journal.pone.0264842
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16636

View Item