TITLE:
Reasons for Drinking Alcohol and Their Relation to Sexual Behaviours among Young Portuguese People
AUTHORS:
Marta Reis, Gina Tomé, Lúcia Ramiro, Fábio Botelho Guedes, Margarida Gaspar de Matos
KEYWORDS:
Alcohol Consumption, Reasons for Drinking Alcohol, Sexual Behaviours, Youth, Health Promotion
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.9 No.8,
August
3,
2021
ABSTRACT: Alcohol consumption is considered one of the factors
with the greatest impact on health. In turn, the use/abuse of alcohol also
presents itself as one of the main factors
responsible for the involvement in sexual risk behaviours by young
people. Therefore, understanding the main reasons that lead young people to
consume alcohol is essential to invest in promoting their health and preventing
sexual risk behaviours. This paper aims to study the validation of the
Portuguese version of the DMQ-R SF in young people aged between 18 and 24 years
old and to understand whether the reasons for drinking alcohol are associated
with sexual risk behaviours and characteristics of groups of young people. The
study includes 1166 young people, with an average age of 21.1 years (SD =
1.92), 72.3% being female. Most participants reported having drunk alcohol in
the last 12 months (78.4%) and having had sexual intercourse (89.6%). More than
one third of the participants reported having had sexual intercourse under the
influence of alcohol or other drugs (39.2%) and 23.5% reported having
occasional sexual partners. The reasons for drinking alcohol can be broken down into four types, namely personal satisfaction (enjoyment), social reasons (socialization), social integration (peer
pressure), and reasons for dealing with uneasy situations or to overcome
difficulties and relieve feelings that generate unease (coping). Regarding
sexual behaviours, a significant relationship was found between the reasons for
drinking alcohol and the two previously mentioned sexual risk behaviours,
suggesting the need for the development of public policies aimed at education
and health promotion of young people, including the implementation of
educational practices in the academic environment, in the community and in
health units.