Alcohol Consumption Behavior among Undergraduate Students in Thailand: Development of a New Causal Relationship Model

Alcohol consumption among undergraduate students in Thailand is problematic. The aim of this study was to deepen our understanding of this problem by developing a causal relationship model for the alcohol consumption behavior of undergraduate students in Thailand, and to verify the model’s concordance with empirical data. Four latent variables were considered: alcohol consumption behavior, alcohol expectancy, drinking refusal self-efficacy, and health literacy. Participants included representative 1st – 5th year undergraduate students at the Thailand National Sports University, with 600 students being selected using stratified random sampling procedures. The descriptive statistics and the causal relationship model were analyzed using LISREL 8.80. The model developed was in good agreement with the empirical data (c2=228.66, df = 79, p > 0.05 , c2/df=2.894, SRMR =0.07, RMSEA =0.06, CFI =0.99, and RFI =0.98), with all computed indices passing the stipulated criteria. On the basis of the coefficients of determination in the structural equation model, alcohol expectancy, drinking refusal self-efficacy, and health literacy together accounted for 80% of the variance in the student’s alcohol consumption behavior. These theoretically based causal factors provide new directions for future intervention work aimed at modifying the alcohol consumption behaviors of undergraduate students at the Thailand National Sports University. This can be accomplished by developing activities that are suitable and contextually sensitive to their needs.