<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Alcohol use among students in tertiary institutions has long been established as a major public health concern. Also, previous research has shown that individuals with depression are particularly susceptible to alcohol use. There is, however, a paucity of empirical studies focusing on whether this relation is moderated by gender or buffered by a sense of inner meaning fulfilment. We assessed the moderating roles of gender and inner meaning fulfilment in the relationship between depression and alcohol use among university students in Nigeria. A correlational survey design was utilized. Data were collected from 1,173 students (57% male) aged between 16 and 36 years selected across six Nigerian universities. Data were subjected to SPSS v.23 for statistical analysis. Our findings show that depression, gender, inner meaning fulfilment significantly correlated with alcohol use. The effect of depression on alcohol was positive and significant (b=.439, se=.049, p=.000). Inner meaning fulfilment significantly moderated the relationship between depression and alcohol use (b=-.163, se=.034, p=.000). Depression was established as a significant risk factor for alcohol use, regardless of gender, and inner meaning fulfilment may buffer this association. Implications and recommendations are discussed.</p></abstract>

Alcohol use among students in tertiary institutions has long been established as a major public health concern. Also, previous research has shown that individuals with depression are particularly susceptible to alcohol use. There is, however, a paucity of empirical studies focusing on whether this relation is moderated by gender or buffered by a sense of inner meaning fulfilment. We assessed the moderating roles of gender and inner meaning fulfilment in the relationship between depression and alcohol use among university students in Nigeria. A correlational survey design was utilized. Data were collected from 1,173 students (57% male) aged between 16 and 36 years selected across six Nigerian universities. Data were subjected to SPSS v.23 for statistical analysis. Our findings show that depression, gender, inner meaning fulfilment significantly correlated with alcohol use. The effect of depression on alcohol was positive and significant (b=.439, se=.049, p=.000). Inner meaning fulfilment significantly moderated the relationship between depression and alcohol use (b=-.163, se=.034, p=.000). Depression was established as a significant risk factor for alcohol use, regardless of gender, and inner meaning fulfilment may buffer this association. Implications and recommendations are discussed.

Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Use Among Male and Female University Students: Is Inner Meaning Fulfilment Protective?

European Review Of Applied Sociology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Alcohol use among students in tertiary institutions has long been established as a major public health concern. Also, previous research has shown that...

Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Use Among Male and Female University Students: Is Inner Meaning Fulfilment Protective?

Published Online: Dec 31, 2020

Page range: 15 - 26

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/eras-2020-0007

Keywords
alcohol use, depression, gender, inner meaning fulfilment, university students

© 2020 Samson Femi Agberotimi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Use Among Male and Female University Students: Is Inner Meaning Fulfilment Protective?

Published Online: Dec 31, 2020

Page range: 15 - 26

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/eras-2020-0007

Keywordsalcohol use, depression, gender, inner meaning fulfilment, university students

© 2020 Samson Femi Agberotimi et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
alcohol use, depression, gender, inner meaning fulfilment, university students