39th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society

Context:
Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) aim to reduce alcohol consumption and its negative consequences. Although globally effective, their application in prevention remains limited, partly due to a lack of understanding of their optimal combinations and determinants. Therefore, this research aims to highlight the most effective patterns of PBS use. Moreover, the most effective PBS are not the most used by students. Therefore, this research secondly aims to investigate, through self-control theories, whether a lower attribution of values to the most effective PBS could explain their lower use.
Methods:
The first study (N=896) measured sociodemographic variables, PBS use, norms, identity, and motivations related to alcohol-use, and alcohol-consumption variables. The second (N=300) measured sociodemographic variables, PBS use, and the subjective values attributed to PBS.
Results:
First, latent profile analyses revealed seven user profiles (entropy=0.72 and pBLRT=0.01), varying in terms of psychosocial variables, with the most protected profiles (in terms of binge drinking and alcohol-use-disorder risks) using the four PBS intensively. Second, repeated-measures ANOVA (F(3,897) = 66.86; p <.001; η2p = 0.183) indicated that students attributed lower values (tangible, social, personal) to the two least-used PBS despite their greater protection.
Discussion:
The most protective profile is using all four PBS, the challenge being encouraging students to adopt the two they use the least. One way to address this challenge may be through psychosocial factors and subjective values, as these findings suggest that public health efforts should focus on promoting values attribution to encourage the adoption of these underutilized yet highly effective strategies.