Background

This study examined the relationship betweensociodemographics, beliefs, and alcohol beveragepreferences among adults in Jos South Local Government Area (LGA), Nigeria. Beliefs” are cognitive representation of what person accepts as true or real, Sociodemographics including age, sex, marital status, educational attainment, employment status, income level, and religious affiliation remain critical predictors of beliefs.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was adopted to assess sociodemographic predictors of beliefsand alcohol beverage preferences among adults. Two hypotheses were addressed.

Results

Burkutu emerged as the most preferred alcohol beverage and Chi-square analysis showed no association between sociodemographic and beliefs. This finding suggests that beliefs were relatively consistent across demographic groups. In contrast, analysis of variance revealed an association between sociodemographic characteristics and alcohol beverage preferences, indicating that demographic factors accounted for variance in beverage choice.

Conclusion

The findings demonstrate a divergence betweenbeliefs and preferences related to alcohol use. While beliefs appear to be shared across sociodemographic groups, alcohol beverage preferences are associated with demographic and contextual factors. These results highlight the importance of incorporating sociodemographic and cultural considerations   into   alcohol   prevention   and   harm   reduction   strategies   in   Nigeria.

Alcohol consumption continues to represent a significant global public health challenge, accounting for substantial morbidity, mortality, and social harm across populations (Rehm et al., 2022; World Health Organization [WHO], 2022). Harmful alcohol use is associated with non- communicable diseases, injuries, mental health disorders, interpersonal violence, and economic losses, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries where regulatory and health system responses are often limited (Room et al., 2020; WHO, 2022).

“Beliefs” are cognitive constructs that represent what a person accepts as true or real, often guiding perception, judgment, and behavior. They are internalized ideas about the world, people, or oneself, and can be influenced by culture, experience, education, and social context(Ajzen, 1991; Rokeach, 1968). Beliefs about alcohol—such as perceptions of health risks, social acceptability, and perceived benefits—is associated with drinking behaviour and beverage preferences. Recent evidence indicates that beliefs influence not only consumption decisions but also beverage selection, drinkingcontexts, and harm-reduction practices (Brown et al., 2024; Buss et al., 2025). These beliefs  are  embedded  within  broader  sociocultural environments and are associated with family norms, peer networks, religious values, media exposure, and public health messaging.

Sociodemographics including age, sex, marital status, educational attainment, employment status, income level, and religious affiliation remain critical predictors of beliefs and beverage choices (Rehm et al., 2022; Kokole et al., 2025). Emerging studies highlight that disparities in alcohol-related knowledge and attitudes persist across demographic groups, influencing both preferences for specific beverage types and vulnerability to harmful drinking patterns (Brown et al., 2024), understanding these will be essential for designing targetedand equitable alcohol prevention and control strategies.

In Nigeria, alcohol consumption patterns exhibit substantial heterogeneity across regions and population subgroups, driven by cultural diversity, religious norms, urbanization, and socioeconomic inequalities (Igwe et al., 2024; Adamson et al., 2025). While national and institutional studies provide valuable insights, data associated with beliefs and beverage preferences in community-based semi-urban settings in Nigeriais scarce. Addressing this gap is critical for informing culturally appropriate interventions and supporting the implementation of the WHO Global Alcohol Action Plan (2022–2030) at the local level (WHO, 2022) and Jos South Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State represents a socially and culturally diverse context where commercially produced and locally brewed alcohol beverages are widely available but under-reported. This study therefore is will answer the following questions:

1. What is the sociodemographic characteristics associated with beliefs
2. How can sociodemographic characteristics determine alcohol beverage preferences

Objectives

The following are the specific objectives of the study:

• To examine the association betweensociodemographic characteristics and beliefs.
• To determine the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and alcoholbeverage preferences.

 Research Hypotheses

• Sociodemographic characteristics will be associated with beliefs.
• Sociodemographic characteristics will be associated with alcohol beverage preferences.

CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK

Belief-Mediated Pathways to BeverageChoice

Understanding how beliefs influence alcohol beverage choice benefits from a social–ecological and cultural cognition framework. Alcohol consumption patterns are embedded within broader social contexts and cultural norms that shape individual attitudes, expectations, and perceived social approval of drinking behaviours (Sudhinaraset et al., 2016). Cultural and social contexts provide normativeframeworks through which individuals interpret and justify alcohol use, influencing not only whether people drink but also what they drink (Sudhinaraset et al., 2016; see also systematic reviews of sociocultural factors in alcohol consumption patterns; Khamis et al., 2022). For example, in many communities, locally brewed beverages carry specific cultural meanings related to social belonging, communal identity, or rites of passage, making these beverage choicesmore attractive to individuals whose belief systems reinforce those meanings.

Within this model, beliefs function as cognitive interpreters of social norms and personal attitudes, shaping how individuals appraise different alcoholic options in relation to their goals (e.g., stress relief, social connectedness, status) and cultural expectations (Sudhinaraset et al., 2016). Normativebeliefs may increase the likelihood of selecting particular beverage types when those beverages are culturally valuedor socially validated. Conversely, beliefs that emphasize moderation or health risks may reduce preference for stronger beverages or high-alcohol content drinks. In this way, culturally rooted beliefs can influence beverage choice over and above demographic predictors, operating through perceived benefits, normative approval, and identity alignment within specific drinking contexts.

Study Design

A cross-sectional study design was employed to assess sociodemographic predictors of beliefs and alcohol beverage preferences among adults. This design is an acceptable approach in contemporary alcohol epidemiology to examine population-level associations between demographic characteristics and behavioural outcomes. The study is conducted in Jos South Local Government Area of PlateauState, Middle-belt Nigeria.The area is characterized by ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity, with widespread access to both commercially manufactured and locally produced alcohol beverages, reflecting broader national consumption trends.

Population

The study population comprised adults aged 18 years and above who consume alcoholand are residents of Jos South LGA at the time of data collection.

Inclusion Criteria

Participants must be adults aged ≥18 years, must be residing in Jos South LGA as at the time of data collection, report to consume only alcohol at least once in the past three month and give their consent to participate.

Exclusion Criteria

Individuals with severe mental illnesses that interfere with their daily functioning or cognitive impairment, those experiencing withdrawal symptoms at the time of data collection that may affect participation and those who are temporary visitors or non-residents of Jos South LGA are excluded. Also,those observed to be drunk are not allowed to participate.

Sampling Technique and Sample size

The authors adopted a multistage sampling technique to gather a representative sample: A random selection of 3 wards were made; Vwang, Zawan and Gyel from the five (5) wards within Jos South LGA, furthermore, selection of communities within the chosen wards. A purposive sampling strategy was employed to recruit eligible adults who were present at the venues and consented to participate. The author visited the community using key informant to purposely identify and select venues with large participants. Data were collected in the afternoon before the approved time for alcoholsales commence, sale is banned in the morning. The data were gathered on-site through self-administered questionnaires, and recruitment continued until the predetermined sample size of 200 participants was reached. Participant distribution across 7 drinking sitesrandomly selected was

unequal, reflecting natural variation in venue patronage and differential willingness to participate. Specifically, 31 participants were recruitedfrom the first site, 24 from the second, 28 from the third, 22 from the fourth, 43 from the fifth, from the sixth site 9 and 43 from the seventhsites. To ensure confidentiality participants were permitted to complete the questionnaires privately and submit.

Sample size was determined using Cochran’s formula for cross-sectional studies, with assumptions based on estimated alcohol use prevalence, a 95% confidence level, and a 5% margin of error. An allowance for non-response was included to ensure adequate statistical power (Cochran, 1977).

Data Collection Instrument

Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, comprising of four sections: Section A: of the questionnaire contained Sociodemographic characteristics that is; age, sex, marital status, education, and occupation. Section B: Preferences for alcohol beverages which captured beer, wine, Gin/spirits, and Burkutu, (a locally processed alcohol).

Section C employed the General Attitude and Belief Scale (GABS; DiGiuseppe et al., 1988), a 26-item self-report instrument assessing rational and irrational beliefs on a Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Items are scored such that higher scores indicate irrational beliefs and lower scoresindicate rational beliefs (Bernard, 1998). The scale comprises seven subscales: rationality, self-downing, need for achievement, need for approval, need for comfort, demand for fairness,and other- downing. Reported Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.62 to 0.88 acrosssubscales, indicating acceptable to high internal consistency. Overall reliability was strong, with alpha values of 0.74 for rationality and 0.85 for irrationality, supporting the scale’s psychometric adequacy(Douglas, 2015) and a Cronbachalpha of .713 in this study area suggesting and acceptable score for use in Nigeria population.

Section D: utilized the WHO-developed Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement ScreeningTest (ASSIST) to assess substance use (WHO, 2002;Newcombe et al., 2005). The ASSIST consists of eight items, with seven assessing alcohol and other substances and one addressing non- prescribedsynthetic drugs. This questionnaire enabledthe researchers screen and admit only participants with alcohol consumption. Among Nigerian undergraduates, the scale demonstrated high internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.91 (Peter et al., 2014). Domain- specific reliability coefficients ranged from 0.66 to 0.89. The instrument was pretested in a similar community to assess clarity, cultural appropriateness, and internal consistency, in line with contemporary scale development guidelines. The corresponding authour is open to making available upon request the data used and also willing to share anonymized datasets. The two questionnaires are added as Appendix.

Data Analysis

All analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS (Version 23). Prior to hypothesis testing, data were screened for completeness, distributional assumptions, and outliers. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations) were computed to summarize participants’ sociodemographic characteristics and alcohol beverage preferences. Inferential analyses included chi- square tests to examine associations between sociodemographic variables and beliefs, followed by multiple linear regression to identify independent predictors of sociodemography and beverage preferences. Statistical significance was set at p < .05. Of the 200 questionnaires administered, cases with incomplete responses on variables included in specific analyses were excluded using listwise deletion.

Ethical Considerations

The study adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association, 2013). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants, confidentiality was maintained, and participation was voluntary.

Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of Participants

Table 2: Chi-Square Test of Association Between Sociodemographic Variables and Beliefs

Note. Analyses were based on 143 completecases after exclusionof missing data.Although no statistically association was observed between sociodemographic characteristics and beliefs,the effect size was negligible, indicating that participants were not meaningfully more or less likely to accept specific belief patterns based on demographic position.

Table 3: One-WayAnalysis of Variance(ANOVA) for Differences in Sociodemographic and Alcohol beveragepreferences

Note. Mean alcohol preference scores differed across beverage groups, with beverage type accounting for approximately 10% of the variance, indicating a modest but meaningful differentiation in engagement patterns. However, significant variance heterogeneity and zero variance in at least one group limit statistical robustness, warranting cautious interpretation of the observed between-group differences.

The first hypothesis, which proposed association between sociodemographic and beliefs was not supported by the findings. The chi-square analysis revealed no association. This suggests that beliefs were largely independent of demographic factors and remained relatively consistent across different groups within the study population. This outcome aligns with previous research indicating limited influence of sociodemographic factors on belief. For instance, Mehra et al. (2025) found no significant associations between beliefs about Evidence-Based Practice and variables such as sex, marital status, educational attainment, and professional designation. Similarly, Cain et al. (2016) reported that health-related beliefs among African-Americans did not differ across groups demography. In addition, Adamson et al. (2025) reported a lack of community-level evidence linking demographic predictors to alcohol-related beliefs. Evidence from Nigerian settings on how demographic factors interact with cultural and socioeconomic conditions in association to beliefs also remains scarce (Igwe et al., 2024; Adamson et al., 2025). Overall, these findings reinforce the view that beliefs may be associated by cultural norms and experiences than by demographic differences alone.

In contrast, the second hypothesis indicates that sociodemographic factors accounted for the variance in alcohol preferences becauseof availability and cultural acceptability within the community of study. Local production is prevalent,in Vwang district alone there are 14 brewing houses (Dankyau, 2021). This finding is consistent with existing empirical literature demonstrating that sociodemographic characteristics are closely linked to alcoholconsumption patterns and related harms (Rehm et al., 2022; Buss et al., 2025). In the Nigerian context, Igwe et al. (2024) noted that locally brewed alcohol beverages remain widely consumed due to affordability and strong cultural embeddedness, which may explain the high preference for Burkutu observed in the present study.

International evidence further supports these findings. Ferrari et al. (2014) reported that men, particularly those aged 30–45 years,were more likely to preferspirits, while younger women tended to favuor milder alcohol beverages such as wine or mixed drinks, highlighting the role of age and gender in deciding beverage-specific preferences. Similarly, data from the NQplus study showed that wine consumption was more common among older adults and individuals with higher educational attainment, whereas beer consumption was more prevalent among men and smokers, underscoring clear sociodemographic differentiation in beverage choice (van den Broek et al., 2017). Broader epidemiological research also consistently links age, gender, and education to alcohol consumption patterns, with men generally consuming alcohol more frequently and in greater quantities than women, and younger adults exhibiting distinct drinking profiles (Wilsnack et al., 2018). Global evidence further confirms that drinking patterns vary substantially across age and gender groups, reflecting cultural and socioeconomic influences (World Health Organization [WHO], 2018).

Taken together, the findings of the present study align closely with prior public health and epidemiological research. While beliefs about alcohol appear to be relatively uniform across sociodemographic groups, alcohol beverage preferences are associated with demographic characteristics. This distinction underscores the importance of considering demographic context when designing alcohol-related interventions, policies, and prevention strategies.

This study examined the influence of sociodemographic characteristics on beliefs and alcohol beverage preferences among adults in Jos South Local Government Area, Nigeria. The findings demonstrate a clear divergence between beliefs and behavioral preferences. While sociodemographic variables such as age, sex, education, and marital status were not significantly associated with beliefs, they were significantly associated with alcohol beverage preferences, accounting for a moderate proportion of the observed variance. These results suggest that beliefs are relatively stable and shared across demographic groups, possibly associated by common cultural norms and social experiences. In contrast, alcohol preferences appear to be more sensitive to demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural factors.

The study contributes to the limited body of community- based evidence from semi-urban Nigerian settings and supports existing global and regional research indicating that demographic factors play a critical role in shaping alcohol consumption behaviors. By highlighting the differential influence of sociodemographic characteristics on beliefs versus preferences, the findings provide valuable insights for public health planning and alcohol harm reduction efforts. Overall, the study underscores the need for context-specific, evidence-informed strategies to address alcohol use in Nigeria,in line with the objectives of the WHO Global Alcohol Action Plan.

Limitation

The study employed a cross-sectional design,which precludes causal inference. Although associations and group differences were identified, the temporal direction between beliefs, sociodemographic factors, and alcohol- related behaviors cannot be determined. It therefore remains unclear whetherbeliefs shape alcoholpreferences or whether engagement in particular drinking practices reinforces specific belief systems. Also, substantial proportion of cases were excluded due to missingdata. the reliance on self-report measures introduces potential sources of bias, including social desirability bias, recall bias, and underreporting of alcohol-related behaviors. the sampling strategy was community-based and purposive rather than probability-based, which limits generalizability. Finally, the study was conducted within a single semi-urban community. Cultural norms, economic stressors, and belief systems vary across regions, and replication across diverse Nigerian and broader sub- Saharan African contexts is necessary to strengthen external validity.

Implication

These findingshave direct implications for scalable mental health and alcohol harm-reduction strategies in low- and middle-income countries. The absence of meaningful demographic differentiation in belief patterns suggests that alcohol-related cognitions may operateas community- wide normative frameworks rather than subgroup-specific attitudes. As such, interventions targetingonly specific age or sex groups may overlook the broader cultural drivers sustaining alcohol engagement. The observed beverage- group differentiation indicates that alcohol use patterns are meaningfully organised around culturally salient beverage types. The findings further support the conceptualisation of alcohol use as belief-driven engagement, highlighting the need to integrate culturally adapted cognitive–behavioural components into primary care and community-based mental health services. Finally, these results reinforcethe importance of addressing social determinants of mental health alongside behavioural interventions. Alcohol-related risk-taking in low-resource communities may reflect stress exposure, economic insecurity, and limited social services.

Recommendation

Interventions aimed at modifying beliefs related to alcohol use may not require tailoring based on sociodemographic characteristics, given the lack of significant demographic differences in beliefs.

Alcohol prevention and harm reduction interventions should be designed with careful consideration of sociodemographic differences, particularly age, sex, and education, as these factors significantly influence beverage preferences. 

Public health policies should integratelocal cultural and socioeconomic contexts, especially regarding the consumption of locally brewed alcohol beverages, to enhance the effectiveness of intervention strategies.

Future research should prioritise implementation science approaches to test culturally adapted, scalable modelsthat address both cognitive drivers and structural determinants of alcohol-related mental health risk.

Section A Demographic Data

GENERAL ATTITUDE AND BELIEFS SCALE(GABS)

INSTRUCTIONS: Below are 26 statements that describe how people think or believe,kindly answer all questions. Decide if you agree or disagree, it is not a test, there are no right or wrong answers.