Ruth C. Engs

Boozing and brawling on campus: A national study of violent problems associated with drinking over the past decade

There has been an increase in alcohol-related violent crime in the United States since the early 1980s. Concomitantly there has been a decrease in per capita consumption of alcohol. Cultural Theory suggests that students will follow the trends of society in terms of behaviors such as alcohol consumption and violence related to drinking. Subcultural Theory, on the other hand, suggests that these behaviors will reflect subcultural rather than societal trends. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine possible changes in drinking patterns and violent behavior related to drinking from 1982 until 1991 with the same sample of universities from all contiguous states in the United States. A secondary purpose was to test the Cultural and Subcultural models of behavior. Based on a sample over 4,000 students, at each of four time periods over the past decade, a significant (p

Reactance Theory: A Test with Collegiate Drinking:

Reactance theory suggests that attempting to prevent alcohol consumption among underage college students will create reactance motivation and lead to increased drinking among such students. Since July of 1987, it has been illegal throughout the USA for those under 21 yr. of age to purchase alcohol. In a national sample of 3,375 college students during the 1987–1988 academic year, significantly more underage students were found to drink. This relationship is in marked contrast to the pattern documented by research extending back to the early 1950s and is interpreted as supporting reactance theory.

College students' drinking problems : a national study, 1982-1991

The drinking problems of college students from every state in the continental United States were examined in 1982 (n = 4,405), 1985 (n = 3,453), 1988 (n = 4,343), and 1991 (n = 3,907). Observed were increases in 10 of the 17 problems studied and decreases in four; three of the decreases were in driving-related problems.

The Association of Alcohol Consumption with Self-Reported Illness in University Students

Many reports over the years have indicated an association between alcohol consumption and infectious illness among chronic heavy drinkers; however, many patients in these studies have been chronically ill. Thus the question of whether alcohol can appreciably influence immunity in humans and affect the incidence of infectious diseases remains largely unanswered. For this study over 1,100 undergraduate students from a general education course at a large midwestern university were surveyed. Students were asked about their drinking habits and acute health problems. Analyses of their self-reports showed no increase in acute health problems or upper respiratory infections in students drinking between one and 21 drinks per week. However, students drinking 28 or more alcoholic drinks per week had significantly more health problems in the aggregate and those drinking more than 22 drinks per week had more upper respiratory infections than other students including nondrinkers. It was concluded that excessive alcohol intake increased the risk of respiratory infections and acute illnesses in these students, but more moderate alcohol consumption had little effect on the risk for these health problems.

DRINKING GAMES AND PROBLEMS RELATED TO DRINKING AMONG MODERATE AND HEAVY DRINKERS

The playing of drinking games, the quantity-frequency of alcohol consumption, and various problems related to drinking were assessed among a national sample of 3,830 alcohol consuming students from 58 American colleges and universities during the 1990–1991 academic year. Among Light-Moderate drinkers, a significantly higher proportion of students who had played a drinking game experienced 15 of 17 drinking-related problems. On the other hand, among Heavy drinkers there was little difference between game and nongame players. A higher percentage of game players had experienced five of the problems. Generally, for many problems, more than twice as many Heavy drinkers among both game and nongame players had exhibited the problem compared to more moderate drinkers. It was concluded that game playing appeared to increase problems related to alcohol primarily among more moderate drinkers whereas those who were heavy drinkers were exhibiting more problems regardless of their game-playing status. Education about the effect of game playing among students who are moderate drinkers should be addressed.

The Effect of Religion and Religiosity on Drug Use Among a Selected Sample of Post Secondary Students in Scotland

Background: some studies suggest that religious variables are associated with substance use and abuse however, they tend to be compartmentalized into alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs. Few have examined both licit and illicit drugs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the patterns of licit and illicit recreational drug use among post-secondary students in terms of religious background and religiosity. Method: the Queensland Alcohol and Drug Study Questionnaire was completed by students attending courses in “helping profession” departments such as medicine, nursing, education, and psychology from 22 departments at universities and colleges in five Scottish cities. The sample consisted of 3117 females and 949 males. Results: among female students a higher percent (p <. 05) who were Not Religious consumed over 14 drinks per week (55.5 vs 36.2%), tobacco (43.3 vs 29.3%), marijuana (32.4 vs 15.1%), amphetamines (8.4 vs 4.1%), LSD (7.4 vs 2.9%), and Ecstasy (4.8 vs 2.1%) compared to those who were Ver...

The Drinking Behaviors of a Sample of University Students in Nanning, Guangxi Province, People's Republic of China

A Chinese translation of the Student Alcohol Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 190 students at two universities in Nanning, China. Males consumed alcohol significantly more frequently and in greater quantities than did females. A significantly higher proportion of males also experienced problems resulting from their drinking. Beer was the alcoholic beverage of choice for both males and females. Most students of both genders drank with friends, and most have also consumed with their parents; about half reported that their parents approved of their alcohol consumption. The results support earlier observations that moderate drinking is widely accepted in the Chinese culture and results in few problem.

The drinking patterns of American and Polish University Students: a cross-national study

A study of 3375 American and 1408 Polish university students was accomplished to test the hypotheses that cultural differences influence drinking patterns and beverage preferences between countries. Using the same questionnaire in both samples, the results revealed that significantly (P less than 0.001) more drinks per week were consumed by both Polish male (24.9) and female (15.2) students compared to American male (15.0) and female (7.6) students. Significantly (P less than 0.001) more wine was consumed by Polish (8.7) compared to the American (0.8) students. American female students consumed more beer than Polish female students. There was no difference between beer and spirits consumption between American and Polish males and Polish students in latter school years consumed more alcohol compared to students in the first years of school. It was concluded that the samples of students in this study reflected their cultures in terms of drinking patterns and beverage preference.

Do Traditional Western European Drinking Practices Have Origins in Antiquity

Over the last few decades, alcohol consumption patterns have been changing in western European cultures (FAO 1991; Hupkens etal, 1992). Many nations have begun to embrace non-traditional beverages and drinking1 practices. There are arguments for both cultural change and for persistence of drinking norms over time or across generations. Indeed, some recent reports suggest both rapid change and persistence (Heath, 1992; McGowan et al, 1992) in some drinking patterns.The northern and the southern regions of Western Europe have traditionally been seen as having different drinking cultures.2 Moreover, these preferences and patterns appear to have persisted from a more distant past. Could it be possible that the traditional western European drinking norms, attitudes and practices may have persisted over the centuries and have origins in antiquity?To explore the question of the etiology of western European drinking cultures, some tentative hypotheses will be offered. It is hoped that these speculations will gene...

THE DRUG-USE PATTERNS OF HELPING-PROFESSION STUDENTS IN BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA*

A survey of 1691 first-and final-year students in the helping professions (medicine, law, nursing, pharmacy, police science, seminary, social work/ psychology, and teaching) as to their use of drugs was carried out during February to April, 1980, in Brisbane, Australia. The results indicated that about 86% drank coffee or tea, 85% drank alcohol, 85% used non-prescription analgesics, 31% used tobacco, 25% antihistamines, 9% marijuana, 9% sedatives, 6% tranquilizers, 2% hallucinogens, 2% stimulants, 1% cocaine and 1% used opiates at least once a year. Of these students, females used analgesics and antihistamines significantly more frequently than males and consumed more caffeine, tobacco and analgesics than males, while males drank significantly more alcohol than females. Final-year students used more alcohol, coffee or tea and tobacco, and used marijuana, coffee and tea and tobacco significantly more frequently than first-year students. Individuals who did not consider religion important used more alcohol and tobacco and used marijuana, tobacco and hallucinogens more frequently compared to individuals who considered religion to be important. There was also a significant difference in drug usage between the different courses of study for most of the substances, with law students using the majority of substances the most frequently and seminarians the least frequently.