Self-efficacy, sensation seeking, right attitude, and readiness to change among alcohol drinkers in a Thai vocational school

Abstract Introduction The prevalence of alcohol use in teenagers has been increasing every year. The majority of alcohol drinkers were vocational students when compared with other educational settings. Sixty percent of Thai vocational students were found to use alcohol. Methods Our research was a cross-sectional study in 306 vocational students, using the Alcohol Consumption Questionnaire, the ASSIST-Y (Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test-Youth) screening tool and a self-administered questionnaire. The association between alcohol drinking with sensation seeking, self-efficacy, right attitude and readiness to change factors were analyzed by binary logistic regression. Results Most students were males (57.5%) and 15–17 years of age (70.9%). Seventy-six-point eight percent of vocational students were in the lifetime drinker group. The binge drinker group was 32.7% and 10.5% were classified in a light drinker group. Sensation seeking was strongly associated with the binge drinker group and the light drinker group, especially the disinhibition dimension (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.34–2.00 and [OR] = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.19–2.06, respectively). Conclusions Our research found sensation seeking, especially the disinhibition dimension was a significant factor for monitoring drinking behavior. We recommended that every vocational student should be monitored for sensation seeking factors.