Attitude toward, knowledge and use of the “sensible drinking” message and unit-based guidelines in University students: a mixed-methods approach

摘要

This thesis present three studies that aim to investigate and compare different definitionsudof standard drinks and alcohol intake recommendations worldwide and exploreudUniversity students’ knowledge of, attitudes toward, and use of unit-based guidelines inudthe UK. Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with a range of economic, socialudand health problems. Heavy drinking patterns among University students are welluddocumented. Like most developed countries, the UK government introduced theud“sensible drinking” message and guidelines for alcohol consumption to encourageudpeople to reduce their drinking.udThe first study was a review of official definitions of standard drinks and guidelinesudof 57 countries. Analyses showed a lack of international consensus in terms of the sizeudof “standard drinks” or recommended daily or weekly maximum alcohol intake. Theudresults suggested that a global system of units and low risk drinking guidelines couldudhelp people make better-informed choices about alcohol consumption and helpudconsistency among researchers, health professionals and governments developing publicudhealth initiatives.udThe second study used an online survey to examine the multivariate correlates ofudmotivation to use guidelines and accuracy of estimates of alcohol consumption amongud640 students aged 18-37. Results showed that motivation and ability to accuratelyudestimate the unit content of beverages were linked to various cognitive and behaviouraludvariables such as conscientiousness and extraversion, familiarity with, and frequency ofuduse of the guidelines and perceptions of how easy and useful the unit-based guidelinesudare.udThe third study employed semi-structured interviews in a sample of 12 studentsudselected from the second sample. Thematic analysis revealed that participants were notudmotivated to adhere to the guidelines and lacked skills to apply them to manage theirudown drinking. Findings suggest that multifaceted public health interventions shouldudinclude provision of information, efforts to motivate young people to change theirudbehaviour, and strategies to develop skills for managing alcohol consumption.