Consumo de riesgo y consumo intensivo de alcohol entre estudiantes universitarios: dos años de estudio

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of risky consumption (RC) and heavy episodic drinking (HED) in the Cohort of Spanish university students at two-year follow-up and to identify predictors of these patterns of alcohol consumption and the association between these patterns and academic achievement. Method: We carried out a cohort study. Alcohol consumption was measured with the AUDIT. The following variables were collected by questionnaire: place of residence, parents' education, alcohol consumption in the family, age of onset of use, alcohol expectancies, and the academic achievement. We constructed logistic regression models using three dependent variables: RC, HED, and academic achievement. Results: The response rate at two-year follow-up was 64.1%. The incidence of RC and HED at two-year follow-up were 24.92% and 4.01% respectively. The prevalence of RC rose from 37.1% to 54.6%. On the contrary, HED dropped from 12.2% to 8.7%. In relation to incidence of RC, being male (OR=2.77), medium (OR=1.59) or high expectancies (OR=2.24), and early age of onset of use (OR=2.26) constituted risk factors. In contrast, living with parents constituted a protective factor (OR=0.48). For HED, being male (OR=1.92) and high expectancies (OR=2.96) were risk factors. RC and HED were risk factors for low academic achievement. Conclusions: HED is a pattern of alcohol consumption mainly associated with adolescence, while RC is associated with youth. Both patterns are predictors of academic achievement. Public Health strategies should focus on modifying expectancies and limit access to alcohol at young agesThis research was supported by Consellería de Innovación e Industria, Xunta de Galicia, grant number PGIDIT05CS021103PR and INCITE08XIB211015PR, by Plan Nacional sobre Drogas, Ministerio de Salud y Consumo, Spain, grant number 2005/PN014, and by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain, grant number EDU2008-03440. The authors N. Mota and A. Crego hold a predoctoral scholarship from Consellería de Innovación e Industria, Xunta de Galicia, and from Ministerio de Educación, Spain (grant number AP2006-03871), respectivelyS