Knowledge about and attitudes towards drinking among university students in Spain

A total of 545 Spanish university students from the University of Valladolid, were surveyed in 1985 about their alcohol use, knowledge of the effects of alcohol, and attitudes towards social drinking and towards alcoholism and alcoholics. The knowledge regarding alcohol (mean scores 7.7 +/- 0.1, ranging 1-15) was associated with academic aspects: it was higher among medicine and nursing students and increased according to the length of stay at university. The attitudes both towards social drinking (mean scores 0.6 +/- 0.1, ranging -9 to 9) and towards alcoholism and the alcoholics (mean scores 3.0 +/- 0.1, ranging -6 to 9), were related to alcohol consumption: those students self-reported as "heavy" and "moderate" drinkers, and those with alcohol intake over 40 g/day, had a more favourable attitude. The results suggest a need for education on alcohol.