Behavioural Insights into Alcohol Use among Young Adults in the Czech Republic: Study Protocol

INTRODUCTION:

A recent survey of alcohol use in the Czech Republic representative for the adult online population presented some worrying findings about the use of alcohol during and in the last stages of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic among young adults. The goal of this study is to gain insight into the behavioural drivers of alcohol use among young adults in the Czech Republic, including the enduring effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and use these insight to make recommendations for policies, programmes and interventions promoting more healthy drinking patterns among young adults and mitigating the negative impact of the pandemic.

METHODS:

A survey questionnaire will be used to collect information about alcohol use, the drivers of alcohol use and opinions on alcohol policy, price sensitivity and advertisement. The research questionnaire is based on standardized and validated questionnaires like AUDIT, DUDIT,DMQR, standard sociodemographic questions, and is supplemented by additional questions related to alcohol policy and other topics that are routinely researched at international level. Good practice recommendations were used to determine the alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSIONS:

The study will provide findings related to alcohol use among young adults, in particular the characteristics of the use and risk factors related to social determinants. The study can shed light specifically on the behavioural characteristics of the use and on the target group’s perspectives on alcohol policy, exposure to alcohol advertising, especially in the social networks environment. The results of the study will be presented to alcohol policy makers, including suggestions for possible measures.