Participation in pregaming and risk profiles among university students in Argentina

Congreso; II LASBRA Virtual Meeting 2022 «Alcohol Use and Associated Factors»; 2022

Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (LASBRA)

Recent data highlight the increasing prevalence of harmful drinking by youngergenerations in Argentina. Seeking an improved understanding of determinants ofdrinking behaviors by youth, we are interested on studying emerging drinking patterns and risk-preference.We identify risk preference profiles considering risky behaviors: coherence in risk assessment, lifetime prevalence, early age of initiation, propensity and curiosity to alcohol and other substance use.The association between risk preference and participation in pregaming, a popular event related to binge drinking, is analyzed.Primary data of 1321 university students from two national universities of the center region and west region were collected and used.Four risk profiles were identified employing a latent class analysis: all-in players (46%) with the greatest probabilities of risky behaviors, cautious players (3%) opposite to all-in players; earlyonset players (36%) present moderate risky behaviors and particularly early initiationon alcohol and substances; later-onset players (15%) differentiates of early-onset players by a later initiation on alcohol and substances. We find that risk preference is associated with the decision to participate in pregaming. Cautions players are considerably less likely to attend these events, in regard to the other profiles. Our results are relevant for designing targeted interventions at educational levels.