In class, we are about to discuss the topic of psychopharmacology: how some drugs (including alcohol and caffiene) affect the brain. To get ready for that discussion, you are asked to complete a survey on alcohol use.

The use of alcohol and its related problems among college students is of major interest to researchers, counselors, and administrators on almost any college campus. While alcohol use is quite prevalent in both colleges and high schools, its prevalence is moderated by demographic variables (e.g., Maddahian, Newcomb, & Bentler, 1986; Skager & Fisher, 1989). Recent studies (e.g., Barnes Welte, & Dintcheff, 1992; Engs & Hanson, 1985; Haworth-Hoeppner, Globetti, Stem, & Morasco, 1989; Kraft, 1985; O'Hare, 1990) have found that similar percentages of college men and women report alcohol consumption, but that men continue to be more frequent and heavier users of alcohol. This may be due in part to the greater biological impact that alcohol has on women (Kwo et al., 1998; Li et al., 2000; Urbano-Marquez et al., 1998) or to women perceiving a greater risk with use of alcohol than men (Spigner, Hawlins, & Loren, 1993). Hilton (1987) reported that 12% of men aged 18-29 got drunk at least once a week. One in five living in a fraternity or sorority were heavy drinkers in a recent university survey (Haworth-Hoeppner et al., 1989). Alterman et al. (1990) reported that nearly half of their sample of college men experienced two or more drinking-relatd adverse consequences and over a third were intoxicated foru or more times monthly within the past year.

Comparisons across studies can be confounded by the use of different operational definitions for alcohol drinking levels. Early researchers often depended upon frequency of alcohol use to define alcohol usage categories, while more recently a combination of both frequency of use and the typical quantity of alcohol consumed at any one occasion is used. For instance, Haworth-Hoeppner et al. (1989) reported (p. 840) the following categories in their study of over 1,000 randomly chosen students at a moderately sized (15,000-16,000) state-supported Southern university:

• Nondrinker: Those who drink less than once a year or not at all (in Haworth-Hoeppner et al.'s study, a total of 16% of their respondents were classified in this way. Of those, 15% were men, and 17% were women).
• Infrequent Drinker: Those who drink at least once a year, but less than once a month. (total: 10%; men: 7%; women: 12%)
• Light Drinker: Those who drink at least once a month , but no more than 1-3 drinks per occasion (total: 14%; men: 11%; women: 17%)
• Moderate Drinker: those who drink at least once a month, with no more than 4-5 dirnks, once or twice a week with 1-3 drinks per occasion, or 5 times per occasion, or 5 times a week with 1 or less drinks per occasion (total: 24%; men: 20%; women: 27%)
• Moderate-Heavy Drinker: those who drink at least once a month with 6+ drinks per occasion, once or twice a week ith4-5 drinks per occasion, 4 to 5 times a week with 2-3 drinks, or 4 times a week with 2-3 drinks, or 4 times a week with 4-5 drinks per occasion (total: 22%; men: 25%; women: 20%).
• Heavy Drinker: those who drink once or twice a week with 6+ drinks per occasion, or 5 times a week with 4-5 drinks per occasion (total: 14%; men: 22%; women: 7%).

In this exercise, your task is to complete a survey of your own alcohol use and its consequences. This survey is completely anonymous, and your name should not appear anywhere on the survey data sheet you will receive in class. If you are uncomfortable completeing the survey, you are not obligated to do so. The data collected will be pooled and presented to the class as a whole for class discussion.

If you do complete the survey, bring it with you to class on the day that it is due and turn it in to your instructor.

Download the survey here. You will need a computer that can read MS Word files to open this document.

References

Alterman, A.I., Hall, J.G., Purtelli, J.J., Serales, J.S., Holahan, J.M., & McLellan, A.T. (1990). Heavy drinking and its correlates in young men. Addictive Behaviors, 15, 95-103.

Barnes, G.M., Welte, J.W., & Dintcheff, B. (1992). Alcohol misuse amng college students and other young adults: Findings from a general population study in New York State. International Journal of the Addictions, 27, 917-934.

Engs, R.C., & Hanson, D.J. (1985). The drinking patterns and problems of college students. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 31, 65-83.

Haworth-Hoeppner, S., Globetti, G., Stern, J., & Morasco, F. (1989). The quantity and frequency of drinking among undergraduates at a Southern university. International Journal of the Addictions, 24, 829-857.

Hilton, M.E. (1987). Drinking patternsand drinking problems in 1984: Results from a general population survey. Alcoholism, 11, 167-175.

Kwo, P.Y., Ramchandani, V.A., O'Conno,r S., Amann, D., Carr, L.G., Sandrasegaran, K., Kopecky, K.K., & Li, .T.K. (1998).Gender differences in alcohol metabolism: Relationship to liver volume and effect of adjusting for body mass. Gastroenterology, 115, 1552-1557.

Li, T.K., Beard, J.D., Orr, W.E., Kwo, P.Y., Ramchandani, V.A., Thomasson, H.R. (2000). Variation in ethanol pharmacokinetics and perceived gender and ethnic differences in alcohol elimination. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 24, 415-416.

Maddahian, E., Newcomb, M.D., & Bentler, P.M. (1986). Adolescents' substance use: Impact of ethnicity, income, and availability. In B. Stimmel, (Ed.), Alcohol and Substance Abuse in Women and Children (pp. 63-78). New York, NY: Hayworth Press.

O'Hare, T.M. (1990). Drinking in collegeL Consumption patterns, problems, sex differences, and legal drinking age. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 51, 536-541.

Pang, M.G., Wells-Parker, E., & McMillan, D.L. (1989). Drinking reasons, drinking locations, and automobile accident involvement among collegians. International Journal of the Addictions, 24, 215-227.

Skager, R., & Fisher, D.G. (1989). Substance use among high school students in relation to school characteristics. Addictive Behaviors, 14, 129-138.

Spigner, C., Hawkins, W., & Loren, W. (1993). Gender differences in the perception of risk associated with alcohol and drug use among college students. Women's Health, 20, 87-97.

Urbano-Marquez, A., Estruch, R., Fernandez-Sola, J., Nicolas, J.M., Pare, J.C., & Rubin, E. (1995). The greater risk of alcoholic cardiomyopathy and myopathy in women compared with men. Journal of the American Medical Association, 274, 149-154.