The Drinkers Degree: Risk Taking Behaviours amongst Undergraduate Student Drinkers

Objective. 

To examine risk taking behaviours associated with alcohol consumption amongst UK undergraduate students. 

Design and Methods. 

A cross-sectional web survey was used to assess attitudes and health behaviours. The survey included the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Students were also asked about why they drank alcohol; about their preferred alcoholic beverage; and if they had experienced any consequences associated with drinking alcohol as well as questions relating to sexual risk taking, drug use, and smoking. 

Results. 

2779 (65% female; 84% White British) students completed some part of the survey. Of these, 98% (n = 2711) completed the AUDIT. Of the 92% that drank 66% (n = 1,643) were categorised as being AUDIT positive. 8% (n = 224) were categorised as probably alcohol dependent. Higher AUDIT scores were significantly associated with negative consequences such as unplanned sexual activity, physical injuries, and arguments. Other risk taking behaviours such as drug use and smoking were also found to be positively correlated with higher AUDIT scores; drug use; and smoking. 

Conclusions. 

The results from this study provide insight into students' alcohol consumption and associated risk taking. University policies need to protect students' overall health and wellbeing to ensure academic potential is maximised.

Below:  Reasons for drinking alcohol.

Reasons for drinking alcohol	Strongly agree/agree			Strongly disagree/disagree			Mann-Whitney
	N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD	Z score	P value
To feel good	1787	11.12	6.27	254	9.28	4.91	−4.7	<0.0005
To feel confident	1991	11.17	6.19	192	8.67	5.58	−6.21	<0.0005
To relieve stress	1877	10.81	6.15	207	11.11	6.38	−0.27	0.785
To feel relaxed	1944	10.73	6.11	177	10.75	5.88	−0.72	0.474
To look cool	990	9.72	6.29	1010	11.68	5.79	−7.92	<0.0005
To get drunk	2161	11.10	6.08	124	6.48	4.58	−9.34	<0.0005
Because friends do	1607	10.45	6.23	441	11.72	5.97	−3.99	<0.0005

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/l8IluV

By:   Gillian O'Neill, 1 , 2 Neil Martin, 3 Jennifer Birch, 1 Alison Oldam, 4 and Dorothy Newbury-Birch 5 , *

¹Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4AX, UK

²Durham County Council, Durham DH1 5UJ, UK

³Balance, North East Alcohol Office, Durham DH1 1TW, UK

⁴Student Wellbeing Service, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

⁵School of Health and Social Care, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BA, UK

*Dorothy Newbury-Birch: Email: ku.ca.seet@hcrib-yrubwen.d

Academic Editor: Gallus Bischof

J Addict. 2015; 2015: 965438.

Published online 2015 Dec 2. doi:  10.1155/2015/965438 

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