Alcohol drinking among college students: college responsibility for personal troubles

BMC Public Health

William d’Hoore²  Victoria Eugenia Soto¹  Pablo Nicaise²  Vincent Lorant² 

[1] Institute for Health and Society, Clos- chapelle aux champs 30 - B1.30.15.05, 1200 Brussels, Belgium;Institute of Health and Society, Université catholique de Louvain, Clos Chapelle-Aux-Champs B1.30.15, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium

关键词: Belgium;    Community health;    Public health;    College students;    Alcohol drinking;   

Others  :  1162067
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-13-615

 received in 2012-12-10, accepted in 2013-06-25,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

One young adult in two has entered university education in Western countries. Many of these young students will be exposed, during this transitional period, to substantial changes in living arrangements, socialisation groups, and social activities. This kind of transition is often associated with risky behaviour such as excessive alcohol consumption. So far, however, there is little evidence about the social determinants of alcohol consumption among college students. We set out to explore how college environmental factors shape college students' drinking behaviour.

Methods

In May 2010 a web questionnaire was sent to all bachelor and master students registered with an important Belgian university; 7,015 students participated (participation = 39%). The survey looked at drinking behaviour, social involvement, college environmental factors, drinking norms, and positive drinking consequences.

Results

On average each student had 1.7 drinks a day and 2.8 episodes of abusive drinking a month. We found that the more a student was exposed to college environmental factors, the greater the risk of heavy, frequent, and abusive drinking. Alcohol consumption increased for students living on campus, living in a dormitory with a higher number of room-mates, and having been in the University for a long spell. Most such environmental factors were explained by social involvement, such as participation to the student folklore, pre-partying, and normative expectations.

Conclusions

Educational and college authorities need to acknowledge universities’ responsibility in relation to their students’ drinking behaviour and to commit themselves to support an environment of responsible drinking.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Lorant et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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