ABSTRACT
AIM: The aim of this study was to identify whether the harmful use of alcohol is associated with an increased probability of presex drinking in Mexican young women. METHOD: This was a study with a predictive design. Multiple logistic regressions were performed in a random sample of 304 young college women (between the ages of 18 and 24 years) from Guanajuato and Tamaulipas, Mexico. Participants completed a sociodemographic data survey and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test questionnaire. RESULTS: Women with a pattern of harmful use of alcohol were more likely to report drinking before sex (adjusted odds ratio = 4.679, 95% confidence interval [1.619, 13.520], McFadden's pseudo R2 = 25.5%). Further analyses revealed that presex drinking by partners was an even stronger predictor of alcohol use before sexual intercourse in women (adjusted odds ratio = 12.749, 95% confidence interval [4.714, 34.483], McFadden's pseudo R2 = 34.7%). CONCLUSIONS: The findings demand additional nursing studies to corroborate-and to better understand-the relationship between harmful use of alcohol in Mexican women, their partners' drinking behavior, and unhealthy behaviors like drinking before sexual intercourse.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism , Substance-Related Disorders , Humans , Female , Adolescent , Young Adult , Adult , Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology , Mexico , Health Behavior , Sexual BehaviorABSTRACT
The authors of this article see substance use disorders as a major public health problem in Mexico in which nursing is taking on an increasingly important role in addressing. The authors discuss some the challenges and opportunities nurse researchers, educators, and clinicians face in the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders in Mexico.
