LE3 .A278 2014

2014

Kruisselbrink, Darren

Acadia University

Bachelor of Kinesiology

Honours

Kinesiology

Kinesiology

This paper examines drinking behavior in the college environment and furthermore will outline the individual level and system levels of alcohol research with particular focus pre-drinking. The purpose of this study was to examine the pre-drinking patterns at Acadia University and to uncover the positive and negative consequences associated with pre-drinking. Ten students in their undergraduate degree participated in semi-structured interviews and completed questionnaires regarding positive and negative consequences and pre-drinking contexts. The interviews addressed location of pre-drinking, individuals participating in pre-drinking, duration of pre-drinking and quantity of alcohol consumed during pre-drinking. Pre-drinking is a common practice amongst students as all participants reported pre-drinking, and pre-drank on 93.3% (± 0.14) of all drinking occasions. Students reached estimated blood alcohol concentrations of 1.7 times the legal limit of 0.08g/100ml in about two hours or less. Males were found to experience more positive and negative consequences associated with pre-drinking. Pre-drinking occurs with close friends and occurs most often before attending the bar, where they would continue to consume alcohol. Drinking games were the most popular way to pre-drink and all participants reported playing drinking games both on and off-campus. Finally, motivations for pre-drinking included both social and financial reasons, although protective factors were also noted. Limitations to the study include small sample size particularly for underage students. In conclusion pre-drinking is a popular practice amongst Acadia University students and is an important component to the drinking patterns of students. Future research should further focus on specific issues with pre-drinking behavior to reduce the incidence of high risk drinking in university students.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:1108