Behavioral, normative and control beliefs accessible in the intention of seeking help from university students with risky and harmful alcohol consumption

Abstract

Objective. Identify the behavioral, normative and control beliefs about the search for help in university students with risky and harmful alcohol consumption, compare differences in the intention to seek help according to the presence or absence of each belief, know differences between gender in the intention help seeking and describe the relationship between gender and beliefs. Method. Quantitative approach, descriptive, correlational, ex post facto study; of 1135 university students, 126 presented risky consumption, 114 of them made up the final sample that completed the AUDIT and a Questionnaire to identify salient beliefs. Mann Whitney U and Chi2 were used for statistical analysis. Results. Those young people with the belief of learning to regulate consumption showed a significantly greater intention to seek help than those who did not present it. A statistically significant relationship was found between gender and beliefs about learning to regulate consumption and prejudices in society. Conclusions. It is important to access salient beliefs to develop strategies to promote interventions in university communities; Evidence supported by the Theory of Planned Action is provided on the beliefs underlying the intention to seek help.