Discernment, Contiguous Inspirations and Knowledge of Health Risks Associated with Alcohol Consumption among Literate Young Adults: An Exploratory and Investigatory Study Approach

The consequences of consuming alcoholic beverages are enormous. There are health related complications, both severe and chronic conditions that are linked to excessive alcohol consumption. In Nigeria, previous studies exploring alcoholism among students have focused primarily on its implications on academic outcomes. Also, there are few specific contemporary studies that have explored the mix-methods in establishing predictors of alcoholism among students in Nigeria. Against these backdrops, this study reconnoitered the correlation between discernment, contiguous inspirations and knowledge of health risks associated with alcohol consumption among young literate adults. Quantitative data were sourced from 400 systematically, randomly and proportionally sampled students from University of Ilorin, Federal Polytechnic Offa and Kwara State College of Education. Qualitative data were explored through the conduction of 10 In-depth Interviews across the studied institutions. The Stata version 14 was adopted. Results of the Correlation matrix showed an existence of weak strength (r<0.5) together with both inverse and direct coefficient of analysed explanatory and response variables in the study. Results of the rank-ordered logistics showed students’ knowledge of health risks of alcohol was significantly associated with discernment (ß= -0.608, p<0.01; ß= 0.456, p<0.01; ß= -0.557, p<0.01; ß= -0.465, p<0.01) and contiguous inspirations (ß= -0.797, p<0.01; ß= 1.079, p<0.01; ß=-1.157, p<0.001). Outcomes of the qualitative study revealed that students consumed alcoholic drinks despite having knowledge of its negative implications. This study concluded by empirically instituting contiguous inspirations and discernment as the key predictors of alcohol consumption among young literate adults in Kwara State, Northcentral Nigeria.