A Multilevel Study of Students in Vietnam: Drinking Motives and Drinking Context as Predictors of Alcohol Consumption

BACKGROUND This study used multi-level analysis to estimate which type of factor explains most of the variance in alcohol consumption of Vietnamese students. METHODS Data were collected among 6011 students attending 12 universities/faculties in four provinces in Vietnam. The three most recent drinking occasions were investigated per student, resulting in 12,795 drinking occasions among 4265 drinkers. Students reported on 10 aspects of the drinking context per drinking occasion. A multi-level mixed-effects linear regression model was constructed in which aspects of drinking context composed the first level; the age of students and four drinking motives comprised the second level. The dependent variable was the number of drinks. RESULTS Of the aspects of context, drinking duration had the strongest association with alcohol consumption while, at the individual level, coping motive had the strongest association. The drinking context characteristics explained more variance than the individual characteristics in alcohol intake per occasion. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that, among students in Vietnam, the drinking context explains a larger proportion of the variance in alcohol consumption than the drinking motives. Therefore, measures that reduce the availability of alcohol in specific drinking situations are an essential part of an effective prevention policy.