DRINKING PATTERNS OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: TESTING REDUCTION OF CONSUMPTION THEORY 1982-1994
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1994-10
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Abstract
The PURPOSE of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to test the hypothesis that demographic variables are less important now than in the past in relationship to drinking behaviours among collegians in the United States. Also the purpose was to test Reduction of Consumption Theory by comparing students from the same or equivalent colleges and universities over five time periods beginning in 1982 from data collected in a long term study of college student drinking patterns and problems by the presenter (R. Engs) and David J. Hanson. METHODS: the Student Alcohol Questionnaire was administered to over 12,000 university students from every state during the 1993-1994 academic year. The SAQ had been administered to the same universities since 1982. The sample size was 10,247 in 1993 1994; 6,751 in 1990 1991; 6,872 in 1987 1988; 4,719 in 1984 1985; and 5,504 in 1982 1983. RESULTS: Among drinkers a significantly higher proportion of men, whites, under 21 year olds, Roman Catholics, individuals to whom religion was not important, those with low grade point averages, fraternity/sorority members, living in small communities, the North Eastern part of the United States, at private schools and colleges under 10,000 exhibited heavier drinking and a higher incidence of problems related to drinking. When the samples for the five time periods were assessed, the results showed a significant (p< .001) increase in the percent of abstainers (17.7 to 26.8) and a decrease in the mean number of drinks consumed per week among all students (14.3 to 13.1). There was a significant decrease in the percent of students who exhibited four drinking and driving related variables. On the other hand, a significant increase of most health/personal, social/academic, and legal/violent problems related to alcohol was found. In CONCLUSION the results do not support the hypothesis that few differences in drinking patterns would be found within traditional demographic variables due to societal changes. Likewise reduction, or control, of consumption theory was supported only for a decrease in drinking and driving variables and the mean amount of alcohol consumed.
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Other RESEARCH PAPERS on student drinking using the SAQ can be found at: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17130/browse?type=title; https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17127/browse?type=title and https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17124/browse?type=title. Further information about the questionnaire, calculations used for the study, and the original data base can be found in the following item records within IUScholarworks repository. Details about the reliability and validity of the SAQ are found at: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17182; http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17154; http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17181. The classic 1975 copy of the SAQ is found at http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17153. ALL QUESTIONNAIRES developed by Engs are found in the repository at: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17141/browse?type=dateissued
Keywords
Control or reduction of consumption theory, binge drinking, college students, underage drinkers
Citation
Engs, Ruth C. (1994) DRINKING PATTERNS OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: TESTING REDUCTION OF CONSUMPTION THEORY 1982-1994. Paper Presented, Department of Psychology, Research Colloquium, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, October, 1994. Retrieved from IUScholarWorks repository: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17314
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This work is licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license. For permission to reuse this work for commercial purposes, please contact Dr. Ruth Engs or the IU Archives.
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Presentation