Binge Drinking In College Essay

Words: 1185
Pages: 5

It has been reported that about 4 out of 5 students attending college or university drink alcohol half of which binge drink (The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2004). This was confirmed by the Office for National Statistics (2013) which stated that nearly 80% of students from 7 different UK universities confessed to binge drinking with the majority being unaware of the detrimental implications that the excessive drinking was having on their physical and mental health. Taking this into consideration it is evident that excessive alcohol use within the student population is a source of significant concern. This essay will seek to examine a variety of different attitudes and expectancies associated with alcohol use in students by exploring appropriate theories, concepts and research.
For the purposes of this essay ‘attitudes’ will be
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The findings of a questionnaire filled in by 137 volunteer first-year students at a British university showed that students with higher levels of stress used alcohol in order to self-medicate and help them cope in these demanding situations. For those who did not drink alcohol, the mean stress score was considerably lower (score of 41) as opposed to those who frequently drank alcohol (score of 45) suggesting a correlation between stress and alcohol use in students (Mobach & Macaskill, 2011). Students who drank held positive expectancies regarding alcohol believing that it will relieve them of tension and help them have a better time, motivating them to drink more. Though this explanation of alcohol use is slightly flawed as female students had higher stress scores than male student suggesting that reasons for alcohol use is dependent on gender and their attitudes and