Montemayor Benjamin N, Flores Sara A, Hassan Arham, Lockman Alee
Department of Health Behavior, Texas A&M University School of Public Health, 212 Adriance Lab Rd, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Department of Health Policy and Management, Texas A&M University School of Public Health, College Station, TX, USA.
J Prev (2022). 2025 May 3. doi: 10.1007/s10935-025-00854-x.
Alcohol use remains a prevalent issue on college campuses, with approximately 15% of students drinking at levels indicative of an Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), yet help-seeking rates remain low. The Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) provides a framework for understanding psychosocial drivers of help-seeking intentions. This study assessed associations between college students' drinking behaviors, the RAA, and their intentions to seek professional help for alcohol use if they thought or knew they had an AUD. Cross-sectional survey data from 2,110 college students were analyzed to examine alcohol use, psychosocial risk factors, and help-seeking behaviors. Participants met inclusion criteria if they were 18 to 24 years old, enrolled full-time in a college or university, reported past-year alcohol consumption, and passed data quality checks. Measures included demographics, RAA constructs (attitudes toward, norms regarding, perceived control over, and intention to seek professional help), and alcohol use behaviors assessed via the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine factors associated with help-seeking intentions. The average AUDIT score was 10.91, indicating hazardous alcohol use. Nearly one-third of participants had an AUDIT score ≥ 15, suggesting an increased likelihood of an AUD. Regression results showed that higher AUDIT scores (p < .001) were negatively associated with the intention to seek professional help for alcohol use. All RAA constructs were statistically significant predictors of intention to seek help (p < .001), with the full model explaining nearly 40% of the variance in help-seeking intentions. This study provides new insights into the complex interplay between personal beliefs and drinking behaviors in help-seeking intentions. Leveraging constructs of the RAA, specifically, positive attitudes toward professional help, greater social acceptance of help-seeking, and higher perceived autonomy over seeking help, was associated with stronger intentions to seek support. The psychosocial elements of these frameworks, combined with informing students of their risks, offer a nuanced approach to encouraging the shift from help-seeking hesitancy to help-seeking acceptance.
饮酒问题在大学校园中依然普遍存在，约15%的学生饮酒量达到酒精使用障碍（AUD）的程度，但寻求帮助的比例仍然很低。理性行动方法（RAA）为理解寻求帮助意图的社会心理驱动因素提供了一个框架。本研究评估了大学生饮酒行为、RAA与如果他们认为或知道自己患有酒精使用障碍而寻求专业戒酒帮助的意图之间的关联。分析了来自2110名大学生的横断面调查数据，以研究饮酒情况、社会心理风险因素和寻求帮助行为。参与者符合纳入标准的条件为年龄在18至24岁之间、全日制就读于学院或大学、报告过去一年有饮酒行为且通过数据质量检查。测量指标包括人口统计学特征、RAA结构（对专业帮助的态度、关于寻求帮助的规范、对寻求帮助的感知控制以及寻求专业帮助的意图）以及通过酒精使用障碍识别测试（AUDIT）评估的饮酒行为。进行了描述性统计和多元线性回归分析，以研究与寻求帮助意图相关的因素。AUDIT平均得分为10.91，表明存在危险饮酒行为。近三分之一的参与者AUDIT得分≥15，表明患酒精使用障碍的可能性增加。回归结果显示，较高的AUDIT得分（p <.001）与寻求专业戒酒帮助的意图呈负相关。所有RAA结构都是寻求帮助意图的统计学显著预测因素（p <.001），完整模型解释了寻求帮助意图中近40%的方差。本研究为个人信念与饮酒行为在寻求帮助意图方面的复杂相互作用提供了新的见解。具体而言，利用RAA的结构，即对专业帮助的积极态度、对寻求帮助的更高社会接受度以及对寻求帮助的更高感知自主性，与更强的寻求支持意图相关。这些框架的社会心理要素，再加上告知学生他们面临的风险，为鼓励从寻求帮助的犹豫转向寻求帮助的接受提供了一种细致入微的方法。
