Correlates of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use among Scottish postsecondary helping-profession students.

OBJECTIVE: There is limited information about the prevalence of recreational drug use over the postsecondary experience in Scotland. The purpose of this study was to investigate the patterns of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use in postsecondary helping-profession students (medical, nursing, education and psychology) in Scotland in regards to gender, age and course of study. METHOD: The Queensland Alcohol and Drug Study Questionnaire was completed by students enrolled in helping-profession courses from 22 departments at universities and colleges in five Scottish cities. The sample consisted of 717 male and 2,537 female students. RESULTS: A slightly (p < .05) higher percent of women (92.7%) consumed alcohol compared to men (90%), but men consumed significantly (p < .001) more drinks per week (26.7) compared to women (17.3). There was no difference between the two groups when U.K. recommendations of maximum limits for each gender were considered. About 50% of men and women consumed over 21 drinks and 14 drinks per week, respectively. A higher (p < .05) percent of men (42.5%) smoked compared to women (36.9%) and a higher (p < .001) percent of men (40.1%) consumed marijuana compared to women (24.1%). There was no difference in the quantity of tobacco consumed. For both men and women, the prevalence of alcohol and marijuana was highest 2 or 3 years before the maximum use of tobacco (students over 24 years of age). Male and female psychology students consumed the most marijuana. Psychology students, together with nursing students, also consumed the most tobacco. CONCLUSIONS: In view of the increasing prevalence of tobacco over the university experience, especially among nursing and psychology students, and heavier alcohol consumption among younger students, health education programs for Scottish postsecondary helping-profession students should expand from the recently introduced school programs.

The drinking behaviors of a sample of university students in Nanning, Guangxi province, People's Republic of China.

A Chinese translation of the Student Alcohol Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 190 students at two universities in Nanning, China. Males consumed alcohol significantly more frequently and in greater quantities than did females. A significantly higher proportion of males also experienced problems resulting from their drinking. Beer was the alcoholic beverage of choice for both males and females. Most students of both genders drank with friends, and most have also consumed with their parents; about half reported that their parents approved of their alcohol consumption. The results support earlier observations that moderate drinking is widely accepted in the Chinese culture and results in few problem.

The association of alcohol consumption with self-reported illness in university students.

Many reports over the years have indicated an association between alcohol consumption and infectious illness among chronic heavy drinkers; however, many patients in these studies have been chronically ill. Thus the question of whether alcohol can appreciably influence immunity in humans and affect the incidence of infectious diseases remains largely unanswered. For this study over 1,100 undergraduate students from a general education course at a large midwestern university were surveyed. Students were asked about their drinking habits and acute health problems. Analyses of their self-reports showed no increase in acute health problems or upper respiratory infections in students drinking between one and 21 drinks per week. However, students drinking 28 or more alcoholic drinks per week had significantly more health problems in the aggregate and those drinking more than 22 drinks per week had more upper respiratory infections than other students including nondrinkers. It was concluded that excessive alcohol intake increased the risk of respiratory infections and acute illnesses in these students, but more moderate alcohol consumption had little effect on the risk for these health problems.

The Student Alcohol Questionnaire: an updated reliability of the drinking patterns, problems, knowledge, and attitude subscales.

The reliabilities of the Quantity/Frequency Patterns, Problems Resulting from Drinking, Knowledge of Alcohol, and Attitudes Toward Drinking subscales of the Student Alcohol Questionnaire were calculated. The Spearman-Brown reliability coefficients of the subscales were .84, .89, .85, and .27, respectively. Values of Cronbach alpha for the four subscales were .86, .92, .86, and .55, respectively.

Drinking games and problems related to drinking among moderate and heavy drinkers.

The playing of drinking games, the quantity-frequency of alcohol consumption, and various problems related to drinking were assessed among a national sample of 3,830 alcohol consuming students from 58 American colleges and universities during the 1990-1991 academic year. Among Light-Moderate drinkers, a significantly higher proportion of students who had played a drinking game experienced 15 of 17 drinking-related problems. On the other hand, among Heavy drinkers there was little difference between game and nongame players. A higher percentage of game players had experienced five of the problems. Generally, for many problems, more than twice as many Heavy drinkers among both game and nongame players had exhibited the problem compared to more moderate drinkers. It was concluded that game playing appeared to increase problems related to alcohol primarily among more moderate drinkers whereas those who were heavy drinkers were exhibiting more problems regardless of their game-playing status. Education about the effect of game playing among students who are moderate drinkers should be addressed.

College students' drinking problems: a national study, 1982-1991.

The drinking problems of college students from every state in the continental United States were examined in 1982 (n = 4,405), 1985 (n = 3,453), 1988 (n = 4,343), and 1991 (n = 3,907). Observed were increases in 10 of the 17 problems studied and decreases in four; three of the decreases were in driving-related problems.

Resurgence of a new "clean living" movement in the United States.

During the late 19th century, a "clean living" movement emerged in the U.S. dominated by efforts to control alcohol consumption, tobacco use, and females' reproductive health. The movement also advocated proper diet, exercise and physical fitness, pure water, and moderation in caffeine and red meat consumption. Remarkably similar concerns have emerged again in contemporary American society. The current "movement" lacks central organization. Rather, it reflects a loosely related coalition of single-issue advocacy groups. Yet, the focus seems remarkably similar to the 19th century movement--legislative limitation of individual choice regarding personal health behavior, particularly with substance use and females' reproductive health. This article reviews the 19th century movement, describes aspects of the contemporary movement, and offers implications and recommendations for school health professionals.

The drinking patterns of American and Polish university students: a cross-national study.

A study of 3375 American and 1408 Polish university students was accomplished to test the hypotheses that cultural differences influence drinking patterns and beverage preferences between countries. Using the same questionnaire in both samples, the results revealed that significantly (P less than 0.001) more drinks per week were consumed by both Polish male (24.9) and female (15.2) students compared to American male (15.0) and female (7.6) students. Significantly (P less than 0.001) more wine was consumed by Polish (8.7) compared to the American (0.8) students. American female students consumed more beer than Polish female students. There was no difference between beer and spirits consumption between American and Polish males and Polish students in latter school years consumed more alcohol compared to students in the first years of school. It was concluded that the samples of students in this study reflected their cultures in terms of drinking patterns and beverage preference.

Influence of religion and culture on drinking behaviours: a test of hypotheses between Canada and the USA.

American Roman Catholic and mainstream Protestant students consume more alcohol and have more alcohol abuse problem compared to Canadian students within the same religious groups. Among abstinent oriented Protestants there was no difference in regards to alcohol consumption or problems related to drinking between the countries. For Jews there were mixed results with Americans exhibiting similar consumption rates but reporting more problems related to drinking compared to the Canadians. Among this sample it was concluded that religious norms have a greater influence in cohesive religious groups while cultural norms are more influential among less cohesive groups. The results also support the Canadian 'Mosaic' and American 'Melting Pot' assumption.

Family background of alcohol abuse and its relationship to alcohol consumption among college students: an unexpected finding.

The purpose of this study was to determine the possible association between positive family background of alcohol abuse (having a parent or grandparent who sometimes or often drank too much) and the amount of alcohol consumed per week among college students. It was additionally to determine the possible differences between students with positive, compared to students with negative, family backgrounds of alcohol abuse in regards to drinking patterns, using a survey instrument that indirectly measures family background for alcohol abuse. For this cross-sectional study, a quota sample of 971 college students from all four regions of the United States was selected. Results revealed no association between family history and mean amount of alcohol consumed per week for the total sample (r = .007), or for men (r = .04) or women (r = .02). Curve analysis indicated a slightly positively skewed curve for the total group and also for male and female students. A t test and chi-square analysis found no significant difference between positive and negative family backgrounds and mean amount of alcohol consumed or drinking patterns. Among those with positive family backgrounds there was no clustering on a scatter plot for either heavy or light amounts of alcohol consumed. The results showed remarkable similarity in alcohol consumption and drinking patterns between students who were classified as having a positive, as opposed to negative, family background. It was concluded that having a positive family background for heavy drinking was not associated with either light or heavy alcohol consumption among this national sample of college students.

University students' drinking patterns and problems: examining the effects of raising the purchase age.

An extensive review of the literature on college students' drinking patterns and problems since the mid-1930s revealed no radical changes over the past several decades. However, during the past 10 years, drinking and problems related to drinking and driving have gradually decreased among college students. Results of a study of students at the same 56 colleges and universities throughout the United States (3,145 in 1982-83, 2,797 in 1984-85, and 3,375 in 1987-88) revealed few changes in collegiate drinking patterns and problems attributable to the nationwide increase in the minimum age for alcohol purchase. There was a decline in the proportion of students who drank in the period during which the law changed. However, the proportion of students categorized as heavy drinkers remained constant over time and the proportion of underage students (81 percent) who drank was higher than the proportion of legal age students who drank (75 percent). Of 17 problems related to drinking, all but 5 remained stable over the time periods. Three of the problems represent the continuum of an established trend of fewer students to indicating drinking and driving-related problems. As discussed in this paper, creative alcohol programming can assist in controlling alcohol abuse among college students.

The health concerns of young american and egyptian women: a cross cultural study.

The health concerns of 99 Egyptian and 135 American young women indicated that the Egyptian sample was significantly more concerned (p < .001) about most items compared to the American group, and that there was very little association (r = .39) between the mean scores of the two groups. The top ten concerns of the Egyptian women ranked by mean score were Halitosis/Body Odor, Colds, Cancer, Poor Teeth, Population Explosion, Overweight, Birth Control, Water Pollution, Headaches, and Heart Disease. The top ten concerns of the American women ranked by mean score were Birth Control, What I'll be like in ten years, Auto Accidents, Overweight, Cancer, Use of Contraceptives, Death, Nuclear War, Childbirth, and Air Pollution. The differences in their health concerns have implications for community health education planning and promotion.