“Alcohol consumption among students in Vietnam”

Key words: Vietnam, alcohol consumption, students

Alcohol consumption in Vietnam increased 4 times from 1990 to 2010. However, in general, the students do not drink frequently or heavily (less than once a month for females, and about once a month for males). 50% of Dutch dental students, for example drink more frequently (5 or more days per previous month) and more heavily (5 or more drinks per occasion).

In this thesis, the PRECEDE model is used as a framework to examine the determinants of students’ drinking behavioral at both the individual and the environmental level. Age, gender and other social demographic variables were found to be predictors of alcohol consumption and alcohol consequences.  

The work in this thesis confirms the motivational theory of drinking, which was developed on the basis of studies from (mostly) Western countries. However, when both drinking motives and drinking context were taken into account, drinking context explained more variance in alcohol consumption per occasion than drinking motives. This finding implies that people seem to adjust their drinking according to the context.