Alcohol 1 - Kean University：1酒精-基恩大学.doc

Alcohol 1Alcohol Consumption and Kean University Students: Self-Identified Heavy and Moderate DrinkersJoseph A. Luzzi, Ph.D. - Fall 2004 A questionnaire was created to assess college students patterns of alcohol consumption.Six-hundred and fifteen questionnaires were distributed to Kean University, Department of General Education students attending classes in a sophomore level, research-writing course. These anonymous and confidential questionnaires were collected during spring, summer, and fall semesters from February, 1997 through October, 2004. The author gave uniform instructions to all students in the context of a lecture on designing quantitative research. The frequency distribution for the last item on the questionnaire, “I consider myself to be a _ drinker”, was: 155 (25%) non-drinker, 265 (43%) light-drinker, 171 (29%) moderate-drinker, 17 (3%) heavy-drinker, and 7 (1%) did not respond to this item.Guidelines for a behavioral definition of heavy drinker were extracted from the responses of the self-identified heavy drinkers (n=17). Nine students reported having an alcoholic drink “several times a week”, 4 “nearly every weekend”, and 4 nearly every day”. The average number of alcoholic drinks “per sitting” was 8.5 (range = 2 - 18) and the average number “per hour” was 3.4 (range = 2 - 5). How many students who consider themselves to be moderate drinkers are actually heavy drinkers? Twenty-three (13%) of the 171 self-identified moderate drinkers met the extracted, behavioral definition of a heavy drinker. This sub-sample can be added to the 17 self-identified heavy drinkers. Hence, a total of 40 (6.5%) of the 615 student sample may be classified as heavy drinkers. Alcohol 2Behaviorally Identified Heavy Drinkers (n=40)Twenty-two (55%) males and 18 (45%) females were behaviorally identified as heavy drinkers. Their median age was 20 (range = 18 - 35). Thirty-two (80%) students were Caucasian, 7 (18%) were Hispanic and 1 (2%) was an African-American. Fifteen (37%) students lived on campus (11 belonged to a fraternity or sorority) and 25 (63%) lived off campus. The average number of college credits earned by the heavy drinkers was 47 (range = 10 - 128) and their Grade Point Average was 2.8 (range = 2.1 - 3.9).Heavy drinkers started drinking alcohol at an average age of 14.3 years (range = 7 - 18).Nineteen (48%) reported that compared to high school they were drinking a lot more in college, 12 (30%) reported that compared to high school they were drinking more in college, 7 (18%) reported drinking about the same amount in college and 1 (2%) reported drinking less in college. One (2%) older student responded “not applicable”. Nineteen (48%) of the students described their pattern of alcohol consumption as “showing increases” over the years, 11 (28%) as being “consistent and predictable” over the years, 8 (20%) as ”inconsistent and unpredictable” over the years, and 2 (4%) as “showing decreases”. Students were asked what percent of the time they drank from each of 3 categories of alcoholic beverages. Heavy drinkers average for beer was 61%, mixed drinks was 31%, and wine was 8%. Twenty-eight (70%) students said they drank more on/around holidays. Twenty-four (60%) reported drinking at night, while 16 (40%) usually drank in the afternoons and/or at night. One section of the questionnaire asked students to apply a 4-point rating scale (1=never, 2=rarely, 3=sometimes, 4=often) to a list of motivational statements. Heavy drinkers average scores of 3 or higher are shown below in descending order.Alcohol 3 Figure 13.5 (range = 2 - 4) I party, drink, and get wasted.3.4 (range = 2 - 4) I drink to unwind, chill-out, relax, and feel good.3.0 (range = 1 - 4) Once I start, one drink leads to another, and another, etc.3.0 (range = 1 - 4) I get an urge to drink when Im talking and socializing with my friends.Another section of the questionnaire asked students to recall the number of times they were involved in a list of ten “after-drinking incidents”. No time frame, e.g., in the past month, was given and students were instructed to use 10+ if they were involved more than ten times. Heavy drinkers frequency averages are shown below in descending order. All items showed ranges from 0 to 10 or 10+. Figure 27.3 I got nauseated / vomited 5.3 I got into an emotional argument5.2 I “made out” and went too far sexually 4.9 I drove a car when I shouldnt haveStudents were also asked how many alcoholic drinks they could “handle” and still drive a car safely. Heavy drinkers average number of drinks was 5.4 (range = 0 - 20).4.8 I missed a class because of a hangover4.8 I had a memory loss / passed out4.0 I missed doing homework (studying for a test, writing a paper, etc.)3.0 I had unsafe sex, when normally I use a condom or other protection2.4 I damaged or defaced property1.6 I got into a physical fightAlcohol 4SummaryMore than 12,000 students attend Kean University. Females account for approximately 65% of the student population, Caucasians comprise about 50% of the student population, and about 10% of the students live on campus. Males (55%), Caucasians (80%), and campus residents (37%) were over-represented in the sub-sample of 40 behaviorally-identified heavy drinkers.The following profile of alcohol consumption and education surfaced for the heavy drinkers. They started drinking alcohol before high school, their drinking increased over the years, and they drink more in college compared to high school. These students are successfully earning college credits with a B average.The heavy drinkers consume beer and mixed drinks several times a week, nearly every weekend, or nearly every day. They typically have 9 dr