Protective strategies and motivations to control drinking among Brazilian college students: A qualitative study

Background: To develop prevention programs or early interventions to reduce alcohol consumption and related problems, it is essential understand social and cultural variations in human behaviors and beliefs. This study aimed to assess Brazilian college student´s motivations to control drinking and use protective strategies, while taking into account the influence of patterns of alcohol use, social situations and settings Methods: Qualitative individual interviews were carried out with 23 college students with diverse settings and patterns of alcohol use (AUDIT - low-risk to suggestive of dependence), using snowball sampling up to the theoretical saturation point. The NVivo software was used for the content analysis. Results: Data analysis highlighted three main themes a) Contexts and consumption patterns (such as bars, “open bar” parties and others); b) Protective Strategies (such as stop-drinking intervals, eating before or during drinking, returning home in the company of a friend); c) Motivations in respect drinking control (such as sense of responsibility, bad previous experiences, family and religious issues). Protective strategies and motivation to control drinking were perceived to be less prominent in contexts and patterns of higher alcohol consumption. Conclusions: Motivations and protective strategies varied according to the drinker’s profile, social situations and the settings in which they consumed alcohol. These different factors need to be considered designing of preventive programs.