title: Prevalence and profile of alcohol consumption among university students in Ecuador.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Alcohol consumption is one of the main health and social problems in Ecuador. The aim of this study was to explore gender differences in the prevalence and psychosocial profile of problematic consumers among university students.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed 3,232 students by using the AUDIT and psychosocial scales. To discriminate the explanatory value of each variable, a CHAID segmentation analysis was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of alcohol consumption was 92.24% in men and 82.86% in women. In total, 49.73% of men and 23.80% of women reported problematic consumption. In men, the profile of problematic consumption was defined by higher scores in anxiety and depression, especially if they showed higher levels of psychological stress and lower life engagement. In women, problematic consumption showed a tendency towards psychological inflexibility, especially in those with lower life engagement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a need to prioritise attention to alcohol consumption in university students and to design different interventions for men and women.
authors.affiliation: Departament of Basic Psychology, Psychobiology and Methodology of Behavioral Sciences, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Departament of Psychology, Tecnic Particular University of Loja, Loja, Ecuador; Departament of Psychology, European University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: ruisoto@usal.es.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruisoto
authors.affiliation: Departament of Psychology and Pedagogy, Public University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cacho
authors.affiliation: Departament of Psychology and Pedagogy, Public University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
authors.forename: José J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: López-Goñi
authors.affiliation: Departament of Psychology, Tecnic Particular University of Loja, Loja, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vaca
authors.affiliation: Departament of Psychology, Tecnic Particular University of Loja, Loja, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiménez
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004484:Ecuador / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014495:Universities
keywords: Alcohol; Ecuador; Estudiantes; Gender; Riesgo; Risk; Sexo; Students