Normative beliefs, attitude toward alcohol use and alcohol use among Slovak university students

Objective. To explore the moderation effect of normative beliefs (injunctive and descriptive) in the relationship between attitude toward alcohol use and frequency of alcohol use while controlling for socio-demographic variables (gender, age and socioeconomic status). Sample and setting. 1938 university students (79.2% females; M=21.7; SD=2.16) participated in the study. The students were surveyed on their frequency of alcohol use, attitude toward alcohol use, descriptive and injunctive normative beliefs. Hypotheses. The authors assumed that the different level of normative beliefs (descriptive and injunctive) influences the relationship between attitude toward alcohol use and individual frequency of alcohol use. Statistical analysis. T-tests and linear regressions in SPSS 21.0 were used for the data analysis. Results. The moderation effect of descriptive but not injunctive normative beliefs in the relationship between attitude toward alcohol use and frequency of alcohol use was demonstrated, although higher injunctive normative beliefs contributed to more frequent alcohol use. Similarly, a more positive attitude toward alcohol use as well as male gender and higher income were associated with more frequent alcohol use. Study limitation. The use of self-report measures and cross-sectional design represent the main limits of the study.