Peer drinking and alcohol use. The role of risk perception, perceived vulnerability, and gender: a moderated moderation analyses

ABSTRACT

Objective

To examine the moderating role of alcohol-related risk perception and perceived vulnerability to alcohol consequences in the relationship between descriptive drinking norms and personal alcohol use, and to determine if this moderation was, in turn, moderated by gender

Methods

538 college students (78.0% women, mean age = 21.2) from three Spanish universities completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Simple moderation and moderated moderation analyses were conducted

Results

Risk perception and perceived vulnerability moderated the relationship between drinking norms and alcohol use. This relationship weakened as perceived vulnerability and risk perception increased. High levels of risk perception and perceived vulnerability nullified the effect of perceived peer drinking on drinking quantity among both men and women, but higher values were necessary to nullify these effects among men

Conclusions

Risk perception and perceived vulnerability appear to be useful in identifying specific subgroups more vulnerable to the effects of drinking norms and might be effective strategies for weakening its impact on alcohol use, with such strategies being more beneficial for women than men. These variables could thus be incorporated into norm-based interventions as they may improve their effectiveness. Our findings highlight the importance of designing gender-specific interventions to reduce the potential negative impact of alcohol consumption.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol use
• descriptive drinking norms
• risk perception
• perceived vulnerability
• college students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Materials and data used in this manuscript will be available by emailing the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by the Consejería de Salud (Junta de Andalucía, Andalucía, Spain) under Grant Number PI-0503-2018 (Principal Investigator: Fermín Fernández Calderón). BV was supported by Fundación Carolina and SEGIB, and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET).