Alcohol use and spirituality among nursing students

Abstract

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate alcohol use and the levels of spirituality among nursing students. The tests used were the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Spirituality Scale. Participants were 191 (80.2%) nursing undergraduates from a city in the state of Minas Gerais, 75.4% of which were female, average age 25 years, and 149 (78%) were Catholic. As for alcohol use per gender, 117 (75%) women used alcoholic beverages and 33 (56.9%) had a drinking problem (p?0.05), against 25 men (431%). Low scores for spirituality levels were found in the sample: in average, women had lower scores compared to men (12.7 against 13.5). Comparing the level of spirituality with having a drinking problem, it was observed that students with low risk alcohol use had lower levels of spirituality. In conclusion, spirituality may not function as a protecting factor for alcohol use, hence this behavior may be under the control of other variables.