Influence of personality traits, alcohol expectancies and COVID-19 lockdown on alcohol consumption in students of the University of Buenos Aires

LIETTI, AE; CARREIRA CARO, CS; BUJÁN, GE; SERRA, HA; PILATTI, A; GUELMAN, LR; MOLINA, SJ

Virtual

Congreso; REUNION CONJUNTA SAIC-SAI-AAFE-NANOMED.AR 2021; 2021

SAIC-SAI-AAFE-NANOMED.AR

University students (US) often consume alcohol for recreational purposes being exposed to various negative consequences that this substance produces. Different factors have been associated with increased alcohol consumption (AC), such as personality, alcohol expectancies and social isolation (e.g. COVID-19 lockdown). Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the AC pattern and the potential influence of personality, alcohol expectancies and lockdown in students from the University of Buenos Aires.A sample of 1776 US completed an online survey that assessed the amount and frequency of AC before and during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, US responded to the BIG-5 and CEA-A questionnaires to assess personality traits and alcohol expectancies.Results showed that students? AC was highly prevalent both before and during the lockdown. In addition, men consumed significantly more alcohol than women per occasion (F1,3523=12.83) and month (F1,3523=21.10), but women had more episodes of heavy drinking (χ2=40.68). When comparing both time periods, the amount and frequency of AC decreased during lockdown (F3,3523= 36,67 and F3,3523= 14,15). Moreover, positive and significant correlations were observed between AC and personality traits such as agreeableness (rs= 0.08 to 0.11) and responsibility (rs= 0.06 to 0.13) in women, and extraversion (rs= 0.13) and agreeableness (rs= 0.16 to 0.21) in men. Finally, results showed positive and significant correlations between AC and all alcohol expectancies evaluated (positive and negative), in both sexes (rs= 0.11 to 0.37).In conclusion, this study suggests that AC is highly prevalent in US, which is worrying given the negative consequences associated with it. Furthermore, factors such as personality and alcohol expectancies could promote AC, whereas lockdown decreased it. Finally, the knowledge about risk and protective factors for AC is important for the development of interventions aimed at preventing and reducing AC.