Validity studies of the scale of positive and negative perceptions about alcohol effects

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the process of elaboration and validation of the Scale of Perceptions about Alcohol Consumption in Higher Education Students in a Portuguese sample, considering the relationship between alcohol use rates and students’ perceptions about the effects of this consumption. METHODS: The validation study included 531 Portuguese college freshmen who answered the instrument, which is composed of five items that express positive perceptions and five items that express negative perceptions about the effects of alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Evidence of content validity, internal structure and external variables were obtained. The results of the factor analysis confirm the distribution of positive and negative perceptions by two different factors according to the theoretical model. Adequate internal consistency indexes were obtained for each dimension. The data obtained showed expected correlations between the perceptions and consumption behaviors of the students, indicating evidence of criterion validity of the scale. Moreover, the study showed that different consumption patterns between men and women, with higher alcohol consumption in the students’ households and restaurants or cafés by male students, in addition to the similarity in the consumption pattern between the two genders in parties and bars or nightclubs. CONCLUSION: The data obtained show the validity of the instrument. In the discussion, the article presents considerations about the responsibility of higher education institutions in the prevention and reduction in consumption rates among their students.

Licit and Illicit Drugs Consumption among Students of the Federal University of Rondonia, Porto Velho Campus: A Cross Sectional Analysis 2011-2017

“…The use of marijuana (39.0%) and amphetamine (9.8%) are also higher among college students, which may explain the high consumption of these substances in the sample of the present research [14]. Increased intake of psychotropic drugs, may occur due to great social pressure, in which the hypothesis of any suffering would be against life, in this context, individuals seek these substances to increase attention, concentration, cognitive performance, fight sadness, failure, depression, denial of suffering [2,15].…”

“…For young people, entering higher education can be a critical period, due to the transformations that this phase may result, such as changes in their way of life, social groups and daily activities, which may cause many to behave in an unhealthy way, including the consumption of drugs [1,2,3,4].…”

“…The Second National Survey on Alcohol and Drug showed that the substance with the highest prevalence of consumption among Brazilian youth and adolescents was marijuana (5.8%), denoting that 7.8 million people have used the substance at least once in their lives [8]. Currently, the emphasis is on college students, who are mostly young and more prone to drug intake, due to multiple factors that range from the need for social acceptance, ease of access, to pressure for positive results in academic performance [2,4,9].…”

Positive perceptions of beer consumption among portuguese university students

“…However, this effect has been fading and there has been an increase in alcohol consumption in women and girls (Feijão, 2016;Inchley et al, 2016;. Recent research about alcohol consumption and the reasons for it (Almeida, Casanova, Páramo, Reppold & Rodríguez, 2020;Davoren, Cronin, Perry & O'Connor, 2016;Kuntsche et al, 2015) identified a set of motivations related to alcohol intake that were associated with various determinants. Positive perceptions about the effects of alcohol tend to be associated with higher consumption (Almeida, Casanova, Páramo, Reppold & Rodríguez, 2020;Almeida et al, 2018).…”

“…Recent research about alcohol consumption and the reasons for it (Almeida, Casanova, Páramo, Reppold & Rodríguez, 2020;Davoren, Cronin, Perry & O'Connor, 2016;Kuntsche et al, 2015) identified a set of motivations related to alcohol intake that were associated with various determinants. Positive perceptions about the effects of alcohol tend to be associated with higher consumption (Almeida, Casanova, Páramo, Reppold & Rodríguez, 2020;Almeida et al, 2018). In addition, abusive alcohol consumption seems to be associated with impulsiveness or sensations seeking, as a response to negative emotions and the identification with behaviour that is culturally valued by peer groups (Schulte, Ramo & Brown, 2009).…”