PSYCHOLOGY OF ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOURS

Psychology of Addictive Behaviours

Psychology of Addictive Behaviours

Excessive drinking in the UK and at UWB: Is it a problem? Are there student-specific factors?

Excessive drinking is an important factor in more than 100,000 deaths in the United Kingdom each year, including those resulting from motor vehicle crashes, falls, fires, drowning, assaults, homicides, and suicides. In addition, it is associated with a large percentage of nonfatal traumatic injury, thus making Excessive alcohol use a major public health issue. Approximately one in five (21%) adults in the United Kingdom drank five or more drinks on one or more occasions in the past month, and almost half of all University (Bangor University in this case) students who drank alcohol drank in this fashion (Wechsler, 2005).

Contributing Factors in the Environment

The intense study of University (Bangor University in this case) student drinking in the decade of the 2000s has resulted in significant gains in the understanding of this topic. However, the overwhelming majority of studies conducted have focused on factors that are proximal to the individual, such as personal and family drinking and other substance use history; social context; and individual beliefs, intentions, or expectations about alcohol use (Schuckit, 2006).

Rates of alcohol drinking vary dramatically by University (Bangor University in this case) (ranging from 1% to 76%), by region of the country (higher in northeastern and north-central counties, lowest in western counties), and importantly, by the sets of policies and laws governing the sale and use of alcohol at the University (Bangor University in this case), city/town, and county levels (Wechsler, 2005). Understanding the patterns of drinking by different groups of students can help identify potential intervention strategies to reduce alcohol consumption, and, in turn, the harms that result from Excessive consumption. Interestingly, features of the environment such as residential settings, low prices, and a high density of alcohol outlets are significantly related to the initiation of binge drinking in University (Bangor University in this case) (Greenfield, 2005) . This combination of factors in the environment that promote Excessive drinking is referred to as a “wet environment.”

A consistent finding has been that the price students pay for alcohol is an important factor in their drinking. Low price and very easy access to alcohol are strong correlates of underage drinking. Student underage drinking and binge drinking are sensitive to the price of alcohol and may be reduced by efforts to increase the unit price of alcohol. Students who pay a higher price for alcohol are less likely to make the transition from abstainer to moderate drinker and from moderate drinker to Excessive drinker (Goldman, 2007).

Some campus, local, and county policies that target alcohol use are associated with less drinking and binge drinking among University (Bangor University in this case) students. Students attending Universities that ban alcohol are less likely to binge drink and more likely to abstain from alcohol. As a result, fewer students at schools that ban alcohol experience secondhand effects of the drinking of others than students at non-ban schools (Fergusson, ...