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. 2023 May:140:107618.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107618. Epub 2023 Jan 11.

The perceived impact that alcohol policy could have on Brazilian and British students' pre-drinking behaviour

Mariana G R Santos  1 , Zila M Sanchez  2 , Karen Hughes  3 , Ivan Gee  4 , Zara Quigg  4
Affiliations

The perceived impact that alcohol policy could have on Brazilian and British students' pre-drinking behaviour

Mariana G R Santos et al. Addict Behav. 2023 May.

Abstract

Background: Evidence on how pre-drinking (i.e., drinking in private or in unlicensed settings before going out) varies across cultures and its implications for defining policies and prevention strategies is needed. We explored the perceived impact that various alcohol policies could have on pre-drinking practices amongst Brazilian and British students that pre-drink.

Methods: A cross-sectional, online survey amongst student drinkers aged 18-29 in England (N = 387) and Brazil (N = 1,048) explored sociodemographic, pre-drinking habits, and attitudes towards alcohol policies (increasing prices, regulating availability, and restricting promotions).

Results: A greater proportion of British students were aged between 18 and 21 years old (67.2%) than Brazilian students (45.2%; p < 0.001). More British (ENG 85.8%) than Brazilian (BRA 44.8%, p < 0.001) students reported pre-drinking. Pre-drinkers' main motivation was to save money (BRA 66.5%, ENG 46.2%, p < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, in Brazil, male (Odds Ratio [OR]: 1.53, CI: 1.04-2.24) and white (OR: 1.60, CI: 1.03-2.49) pre-drinkers were more likely to believe that increasing prices policies could reduce their pre-drinking habits. In Brazil, white pre-drinkers (OR: 1.86, CI: 1.10-3.15) were more likely to believe that restricting alcohol promotions policies could reduce their pre-drinking habits. Regarding the perceived impact that the combined alcohol policies could have on students' pre-drinking practice, only in Brazil there were significant statistical results.

Conclusions: Whilst in Brazil none of the investigated alcohol policies are currently implemented, more Brazilian pre-drinkers believed that such legislation could reduce their pre-drinking practices (when compared with British pre-drinkers). These data may help legislators and stakeholders to better understand the characteristics of a more acceptable alcohol policy amongst university students.

Keywords: Alcohol policy; Brazil; England; Perceptions; Pre-drinking.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. This study was granted with doctoral fellowship funded by the Brazilian Government agency CNPq - National Council of Scientific and Technologic Development (process GDE 232375/2014-3). The sponsorship agency had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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