Abstract:
Alcohol use is still an important public health problem among Thai adolescents. The purposes of this correlational research were to identify the prevalence of hazardous drinking and to identify factors related to hazardous drinking among male vocational students. The study was conducted with 240 male vocational students in Sisaket province. Participants were selected through cluster random sampling. Research instruments were a demographic questionnaire, the alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT), and questionnaires measuring stress, alcohol drinking refusal self-efficacy, attitude towards drinking alcohol, and family attachment. Reliability coefficients were .98, .78, .90, .79, and .77, respectively. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. The results revealed that the prevalence of hazardous drinking was 49.5 %. Significant factors related to hazardous drinking among male vocational students were illicit drug use (AOR = 5.76, 95 % CI = 1.71-19.43), peer alcohol drinking (AOR = 3.54, 95 % CI = 1.41-8.91), alcohol drinking refusal self-efficacy (AOR = 3.35, 95 % CI = 1.79-6.28), stress (AOR = 1.95, 95 % CI =1.02-3.75), and attitude towards drinking alcohol (AOR = 1.95, 95 % CI = 1.04-3.68). Academic success, family attachment, family members drinking, and parental approval of drinking alcohol were not related to hazardous drinking. Results of the study can serve as basic information for community nurse practitioners and others involved in developing effective interventions to reduce hazardous drinking among adolescent male vocational students. Interventions should focus on enhancing stress management and drinking refusal self-efficacy, including increasing appropriate attitudes towards drinking alcohol.