Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Sonia Jazmín Molina | email: molinasonia.j@gmail.com
Candela Sofía Carreira Caro 1°, Ángel Emanuel Lietti 1°, Gustavo Ezequiel Buján 2°, Jesica Formoso 3°, Angelina Pilatti 4°, Laura Ruth Guelman 1°, Sonia Jazmín Molina 1°
1° Universidad de Buenos Aires. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos (CEFyBO, UBA-CONICET). Facultad de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2° Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. 1ª Cátedra de Farmacología. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
3° Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
4° Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Psicología. Córdoba, Argentina.
Considering that alcohol consumption (AC) is highly prevalent in college students (CS) and can cause health alterations, it is relevant to identify risk factors that might promote AC, such as drinking contexts. Thus, this work aimed to study the role of drinking contexts, including the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in promoting AC in CS of Buenos Aires. Argentinean CS (N= 1762; 74.8% women; Mean age= 23.25 ± 2.64) completed an online survey that assessed AC and drinking contexts before and during the lockdown. Different statistical analyzes were performed, including Latent Class Analysis (LCA) and ANOVA. LCA identified a 6-classes model for contexts that showed different AC patterns, both in terms of quantity and frequency. Several contexts were associated with AC, but especially those related to social meetings with peers. Additionally, the majority of CS use alcohol in a wide range of contexts -including intimate contexts as well- and present a more problematic and less flexible AC pattern. Finally, the lockdown modified drinking contexts and decreased AC in most cases. In conclusion, alcohol is widely used by CS in a plethora of contexts, which is worrying considering that it can induce health disturbances. Moreover, it is important to consider not only the influence of drinking contexts on AC but also diverse social aspects such as the lockdown -that could modify contexts and their influence on AC- to devise prevention and intervention strategies to reduce AC.