Factors Associated With Changes in Alcohol Consumption Among Slovak University Students

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the role of social support, emotional well-being and personality traits in changes of alcohol consumption among university students. Methods: 190 Slovak university students participated in a longitudinal online study. We compared the data collected in the first and second year of their university studies using Wilcoxon tests and regression analysis. We modelled the change in the alcohol consumption score for each individual as a function of changes in their social support, emotional well-being, personality traits and intimate relationships.Findings: We observed a significant decrease in social support and a significant increase in emotional well-being and alcohol consumption. The increase in alcohol consumption can be explained by the decrease in social support, by changes in emotional well-being, by having no intimate relationships, by higher levels of agreeableness and by lower levels of extroversion.Discussion: The results point to several important variables which could explain the increase in alcohol consumption among university students and which may prove useful for precise targeting in health-related prevention programmes.