Cluster Analysis for Abstemious Characterization Based on Psycho-Social Information

The consumption of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs are a health and social problems worldwide. According to several studies, abstemious people are a minority population among university students. The objective of this research is to identify clusters of abstemious students and their psycho-socials patterns. Based on information obtained through five psychological questionnaires (Patient health questionnaire PHQ-9, avoidance and action questionnaire AAQ 7, loneliness scale UCLA-R, the satisfaction with life scale SLQ, the Barratt impulsiveness scale BISS-1, and perceived stress scale PSS-10) a cluster analysis was conduct using Sparse K-means algorithm. The sample comprised 510 abstemious college students from three Ecuadorian universities. Two clusters were obtained: satisfaction with life, loneliness, and avoidance and action are the most representative variables contributing to the cluster distribution.