Alcoholism in University Students - What are the reasons for such high levels of consumption?

As this is the topic of my poster presentation I figured it would be a good idea to write a blog on this too, including some of the findings we came across on the way. Originally the topic we were going to look at was to do with whether sports teams drank larger amounts of alcohol than other students, but due to ethical limitations on doing our own primary research we decided to change to just look at the reasons for alcohol consumption among students.

Drinking behaviour among university students has been highly criticised in recent years, the age group of 18-24 has been identified as showing the highest rates of alcohol use and problem drinking (Kandal & Logan, 1984). Heavy drinking among students results in many problems; some only minor such as hangovers and missing classes, some much more serious such as fights and sexual assaults. One researcher found that approximately 1,825 18-24 year old students enrolled in university institutions each year from alcohol related causes, mostly due to motor vehicle crashes; nearly 700,000 students are hit or assaulted by another drinking student each year, and 97,000 are victims of alcohol related sexual assault or date rape (Hingson et al. 2009). 

A survey conducted by CORE Institute on the Alcohol and Drug use of university students found that the biggest reason for drinking alcohol among students was for social reasons, such as breaking the ice, enhancing social activity and gives people something to do. A large 53% say that it facilitates sexual opportunity and 20% say it makes them feel sexier (CORE, 2011); a slightly worrying figure considering the earlier of the number of amount of sexual assaults. Young et al (2006) found that enhanced sexual performance and experience was a noticeable factor in his study also. Peer pressure wasn't mentioned within the CORE study, however other researchers found this within the form of university groups and societies, particularly sporting societies. Membership within a university sports team was found to be in correlation with heavy drinking, and the reason behind this was to do with conformity levels (Hutching et al. 2011), thus showing the effect that drinking alcohol excessively may be more to do with how they are perceived to their peers and fitting in with them.

Although there are individual reasons for the consumption of alcohol, the correlation between alcohol and students suggest that there is a reason for the link. Due to alcohol consumption being a mainly social exercise and that people report having more fun and enhancing relationships whilst under the influence of alcohol, it would suggest that consuming alcohol is to do with how people fit in with their peers and their opinion of them. People who drink are likely to be friends with others who drink similar amounts, and if one person doesn't drink as much usually they may do so to fit in with them.

• Kandel, D. B., & Logan, J. A. (1984). Patterns of drug use from adolescence to young adulthood: I. periods of risk for initiation, continued use, and discontinuation. American Journal of Public Health, 74, 660-666
• Hingson, R. W., Zha, W., & Weitzman, E. R. (2009). Magnitude of and trends in alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18–24, 1998–2005. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Suppl 16, 12–20.
• CORE (2011) Alcohol and Drug Survey, Executive Summary. Accessed on http://core.siu.edu/pdfs/report11.pdf on 01/05/2013
• Young, R., Connor, J., Ricciardelli, L. and Saunders. J., (2006) The Role of Alcohol Expectancy and Drinking Refusal Self-Efficiacy Beliefs in University Student Drinking. Alcohol & Alcoholism Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 70–75
• Huchting, K.; Lac, A., Hummer, J., and LaBrie, J., (2011) Comparing Greek-Affiliated Students and Student Athletes: An Examination of the Behavior-Intention Link, Reasons for Drinking, and Alcohol-Related Consequences. Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education 55 (3): 61-81.