Introduction

The reduction of the patterns of risky drinking remains a major public health problem and challenge in academic contexts, especially when scientific investigations reveal a high incidence of risky drinking among university students. The main aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of drinking behaviours of university students and their association with knowledge about alcohol consumption and general attitudes towards alcohol use.

Material and methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of Portuguese university students (n = 840), stratified by year of academic attendance and scientific area of study. A previously validated self-reported questionnaire was applied, in May 2019, to measure the consumption of alcohol with AUDIT-C, alcohol-related knowledge and attitudes towards risky drinking.

Results

We found that the majority of participants present a risky drinking (48.1%) without differences between female and male students. The level of attitudes towards alcohol consumption was moderate, while the level of knowledge about the consequences of alcohol-related behaviours was low. It was found that the higher the prevalence of risky drinking in students, the better the knowledge about the consequences of consumption and the higher the level of negative attitudes.

Discussion

The variables “current residence”, “drinking peers”, “alcohol-related knowledge” and “attitudes about alcohol” have a statistically significant effect on the probability of developing a risky pattern of alcohol use among university students.

Conclusions

This study provides important information for future research, as well as for the development of educational programmes aimed at peer groups, showing that universities need to adopt health education measures especially for displaced students when students enter into higher education.