Open Access
ARTICLE
Abstract
Due to peer pressure playing a crucial role in the decision to drink, people who have a more fragile temperament
might be expected to be at higher risk. Moreover, many studies have investigated the influence of peer pressure on
alcohol consumption, but few have examined the relationship between heavy drinking and peer pressure via a
spatial autoregressive model (SAR) in low/middle-income countries, such as Thailand. This paper investigated
the connection between heavy drinkers over the age of 15 years who drink more than or equal to 60 grams of
unmixed alcohol at least once per month based on the Thai Survey of Cigarette Smoking and Alcoholic Drinking
Behavior, 2014. Further, the drinkers were assumed to socialize with two peer groups: immediate family and close
friends. Our paper considered a SAR model because SAR can overcome the reflection problem encountered using
a linear-in-means model and the correlated effect problem found with hierarchical models. The main finding was
the discovery of a significant and positive peer effect on alcohol consumption among heavy drinkers. In addition,
there was evidence of education having an effect, but no evidence of income affecting on alcohol consumption.
Specifically, a higher level of education was linked with lower levels of alcohol consumption. The results not only
help us to understand the peer effect and alcohol consumption behavior, but policymakers can also apply peer
effect-based strategies to formulate effective policies to decrease the alcohol consumption rate in Thailand.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Nonkhuntod, R., Yu, S. (2023). Peer Pressure and Harmful Use of Alcohol in Thailand: A Spatial Autoregressive Model Application.
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 25(5), 613–626. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2023.025648