Binge Drinking

What are the causes of ‘binge drinking’ amongst youngsters

Abstract

The meaning of ‘binge drinking’ has been questioned considerably; there is no one such definition as it is seen to be too broad and complex. A broad definition that could be used however would be drinking too much alcohol at once or over the recommended daily units, which according to the NHS is no more than 4 units for men and no more than 3 for women. The consumption of alcohol in the UK is on the increase especially amongst youngsters, which has lead to great concern.

This dissertation explores a range of issues that aimed to find out the main factors that causes youngsters aged 16-24 to ‘binge drink.’ This was done by taking a qualitative and quantitative approach in the form of a questionnaire which included 24 questions with regards to the consumption of alcohol. These were paper based questionnaires as well as online based questionnaires which were given to a sample of 60 students to complete. Results showed that there are a number of factors which cause youngsters to consume alcohol. One of the main reasons for the consumption was due to the social aspect. Drinking alcohol is seen as a ‘normal’ thing to do when socialising with peers, therefore this could lead to binge drinking. Other factors include peer pressure, stress release, enjoyment and confidence booster. However, findings show that the topic is more complex than this; therefore further research and investigation would need to be undertaken to fully grasp the issues underlying this subject matter.

Introduction

Significance of the issue

The United Kingdom is considered to have one of the most problematic affairs with alcohol due to drinking patterns and styles that have developed over the past century. While numerous other western European countries, such as Spain and France, have seen a decline in overall alcohol consumption, the United Kingdom’s overall consumption is on the increase. Greater concern is amongst those aged 16-24 years who are primarily associated with ‘binge drinking.’ As levels of drinking have increased so has the cause for concern due to social and health consequences, with 30% of men and 25% of women drinking more than the recommended intake. (Paton 2005, p.1) Young people in particular are drinking larger amounts of alcohol over shorter periods of time. The recommended limits of alcohol per session (according to the NHS) should be no more than 3-4 units for men and 2-3 units for women. In 1990, the average amount of alcohol drunk by 11-15 year olds as a whole was 0.8 units in a typical week, rising to 1.6 units in 1998 (Goddard and Higgins 1999). Among those youngsters who do drink, the average of 5.3 units in 1990 increased to 10.5 units in 2002 (Boreham and McManus 2003) which is almost double the amount drunk twelve years previously. Those aged 16-24 in the UK are more likely to binge drink with 36% of men and 27% of women reportedly binge drinking in 2002 at least once a week (Office for National Statistics). These s show potential dangers and risks for youngsters in many ways. A chief example of these risks and dangers would be physical health. Research has suggested that excessive alcohol consumption can lead youngsters to experience many problems, the main symptoms being breathing problems, leading to coma and inhalation of vomit (Lamminpaa 1995). Other dangers of physical health would be through the damage of the organs, mainly the liver, brain and heart (Tuttle, Mazurek, Loveland-Cherry, 2002). Other risk factors affecting youngsters as a result of high alcohol consumption would be the risk of accident and injuries, as they have limited experience in the effects of drinking alcohol and regularly consume alcohol in high risk areas without adult supervision (Newburn and Shiner 2003). These are just a few dangers and risks outlined that are associated with adolescent alcohol consumption, and the reason why the increase of alcohol consumption by young people is concerning, therefore the factors that affect alcohol consumption and what causes this to increase needs to be looked into further in order to avoid these dangers from increasing in the future.

Aims/objectives

The general aim of this dissertation is to explore what binge drinking is and to investigate the main factors and causes associated with high alcohol consumption amongst youngsters aged 16-24, looking at students in particular. The main objectives are to look at what binge drinking actually is, as there are many definitions and questions arisen as to what could be defined as ‘binge drinking.’ Also to look at the different causes of high alcohol consumption and an attempt to explain the how and why binge drinking affects youngsters in particular. Future recommendations will also be given, and an attempt will be made to investigate how much people actually know about binge drinking. In order to meet these aims and objectives, research will be conducted in the form of a questionnaire which will be handed out and undertaken around the University of Bradford and Bradford College, as well as posting the questionnaire online through a social networking site known as Facebook. The questionnaire approach method was decided to be taken as this will help this study meet the aim and objectives in many ways; it will enable a detailed examination of the explicit problems that will be investigated, as a method of both qualitative and quantitative data collection. As described by Porter (2000) the differences between the two methods of data collection lie in their focus of analysis. Quantitative research focuses on the quantity i.e. numbers, which aim to identify the relationship between different events. Whereas qualitative research on the other hand is more concerned with the quality of data, focusing on words in the form of writing, this aims to search for the reason behind the actions. As the aim of this research is to investigate the main causes associated with binge drinking amongst youngsters, the questionnaire approach was seen to be more reliable than other methods of data collection as it gives the opportunity to collect both qualitative and quantitative forms of data, which as a result will help in the exploring, investigating and analysing process. Polit and Hungler (1999) stated that a quantitative approach is unsuitable for studying human behaviour, as it is reductionist in nature because it limits human experience to only a small amount of concepts. Therefore a number of questions will be asked in the questionnaire, both open ended and closed ended, in order to gather both quantitative and qualitative forms of data which will reduce reductionism. Questionnaires also provide the opportunity to be distributed to a much larger number of samples quite easily compared to other methods of data collection, and are a more common form of measuring attitudes and beliefs (Sim and Wright 2000). It was therefore decided that questionnaires would be distributed around the University of Bradford campus, the students union in particular, and Bradford College with the aim of gathering an insight into the factors affecting and influencing binge drinking among youngsters.

Overall approach

The overall approach to this dissertation will be a combination of a literature review and the questionnaire as primary research. The literature review will provide the theoretical background and foundations for the questionnaire that will be conducted, in addition to providing raw data on the history and context of youngsters in relation to alcohol. After the literature review the primary research methodology will be presented, followed by the assessment and evaluation of the methodological issues. The subsequent chapter will then present the results and findings of the research in the form of qualitative data, as well as presenting quantitative data in the form of graphs and charts. There will then be an analysis chapter where the findings from this research will be correlated to the findings presented in the literature review, and both will be linked and analysed. The final chapter will then provide the conclusion and summing up, essentially in relation to the main aim and objectives of the research. Limitations of this research will also be presented here as well as recommendations for future research.

Literature review

There is a large amount of literature available on ‘binge drinking’ issues in relation to youngsters, and the factors that are associated with high alcohol consumption. There are many influences affecting young adults’ drinking behaviour such as gender, age, social class and religion, as well as social, personality and biological factors, and the physical availability and prices of alcohol beverages. Young adults’ heavy drinking is influenced mainly by social norms of the society, secondly by socialising and thirdly by modelling, which is seen as the perception of other people’s behaviour. According to Cooper (2000) young adults may value the social opportunities drinking situations offer to such a degree, that they be inclined to define drinking itself as a secondary activity to social interaction with other members (Cooper, 2000, p. 39-42). In 1995 one of the first major investigations had taken place by the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD). The study was conducted in the UK as well as 22 other European countries with a sample of 15-16 year old students. The main aim was to examine potentially risky behaviour in the use of smoking, illicit drugs and drinking amongst youngsters (Miller and Plant, 1996). Results showed that the UK was amongst those countries with the highest levels of profound drinking and drunkenness (Hibell et al., 1997). A follow-up ESPAD study was undertaken four years later in 1999, which involved more than 90,000 students from 30 different countries, this being one of the largest major international studies of alcohol ever attempted. This report established that youngsters in the UK had remained in the same position as the earlier 1995 study, as having one of the highest levels of alcohol consumption from the 30 different countries that had taken part. As a result, youngsters from countries with the highest levels of intoxication (UK being one of them) were more likely to consume alcohol in heavy sessions and produce higher levels of episodic ‘binge drinking.’ Researchers found that these heavy sessions mainly occurred on weekends in the form of parties and ‘get-togethers.’ Youngsters also reported that they believed those who drink the most, enjoy the most so drinking alcohol had positive effects on them, even if this also results in unfavourable consequences i.e. ‘hangovers.’ One international study known as the GENACIS study, found that people are unsure about the effects caused by binge drinking, and are willing to acknowledge the negative experiences as the ‘price they pay for enjoying their drinking’ (Plant et al 2002). In conclusion, parents who teach their children to drink within the context of a controlled home environment, result in the children drinking less and with fewer problems than those who drink outside of their home environment under minimum supervision. A study by E Webb, C. H. Ashton, P. Kelly, and F Kamali (1996) was conducted on university students from ten UK based universities, with a sample of 3075 second year university students. A questionnaire was distributed whilst scheduled lectures were taking place. Results showed that 61% of men and 48% of women exceeded the ‘sensible’ weekly limits. Binge drinking was reported by 31% of men and 24% of women. The main reason for drinking was pleasure, which was reported by 89% of men and 92% of women. Other factors included habit, to increase confidence, decrease anxiety/stress and social pleasure. The main findings by Webb et al. were that a considerable amount of university students are drinking above sensible recommended limits. This applies not just to university students, but has also been found amongst young people in general in the UK. There are many perceptions of alcohol consumption, one of which is mainly the perception of becoming an adult. According to Plant and Plant (1992) alcohol has been regarded as an important rite of passage into adulthood for a number of years. Many participants have introduced alcohol into their social life as they believe it is an indicator of them becoming an adult. Alcohol consumption was traditionally associated with the males going to pubs and drinking beer (Lees 1986). It was also traditionally associated with a male’s ability to display masculinity (McDonald 1994). However, Honess et al (2000) stated that motivation for the consumption of alcohol amongst adolescents, are now more complex than imitating adult behaviour. Honess et al (2000) found another perception of alcohol consumption, which was as a means of releasing stress. Participants from the study perceived the consumption of alcohol as a way of relaxing after a stressful day at work for example. Another major factor found to influence and cause alcohol consumption to increase is peer groups. Swadi (1999) stated that the influence of peers is a key motivation factor for adolescent alcohol consumption and their perception towards alcohol, as it is now becoming increasingly important for youngsters to gain a social status and develop an identity for themselves amongst their peer groups. As well as peer groups, parents have shown to have an affect on young people’s attitudes towards alcohol too. Youngsters imitate the behaviour, alcohol consumption and perceptions of that of their own parents (Yu 2003). One respondent called Amy from the study by Yu (2003) for example, stated: ‘At 15, I didn’t really know anyone who drank, I perhaps might have had a glass of wine at Christmas or half a glass but that was it and my mum and dad didn’t really drink, we didn’t go to places where people were drinking’ comments like this from respondents from the study proved that the exposure of alcohol from parents has a major impact and influence on youngsters, as Amy wasn’t really exposed to alcohol much from a young age, she did not perceive drinking alcohol as a ‘normal’ thing to do therefore does not often take part in such activities and behaviour. As a result, the findings by Yu (2003) have been supported; who found that heavy drinking in adolescent offspring can be reduced and prevented within the home environment depending on that of their parents. Paton (2005) also found that youngsters are more likely to become heavy drinkers themselves if they have a family history of alcohol misuse. He came up with three main factors that he stated influenced alcohol consumption: Genes, Family and Environmental factors. He claimed that the main influence on the risk of misusing alcohol was the family factor with 46%, secondly was genes with 36.5% then third most important are environmental factors with just 17.5%. He found that ‘alcoholism’ was more evident amongst identical twins and there was an increase of ‘alcoholism’ amongst men that were separated from their alcoholic parents after birth. The family factor also played a role in the influence according to Paton (2005). Results showed that up to 50% of heavy drinkers have a history of family alcohol misuse, this was characterised by starting to drink at a young age, addiction, chaotic drinking and antisocial behaviour. Paton (2005) also found that behavioural factors such as boredom, habit, low self-esteem, loneliness, anxiety and depression can also help promote the consumption of alcohol. He also claimed that drinking alcohol is determined by environmental factors such as culture, availability and price, individual’s needs, life events and circumstances. (Paton, Touquet, 2005, p.13). There have been significant cultural influences on alcohol consumption as reported by Ledous, Miller, Choquet and Plant (2002), who looked at adolescent alcohol consumption of that of teenagers in the UK and France. Results showed that adolescents in the UK were more likely to have consumed alcohol six or more times in the past twenty days, than that of the adolescents in France. This demonstrates the difference in the drinking cultures amid different countries. A further study by Cameron (2000) looked into these cultural differences in an attempt to describe such contrasts. This was done by comparing the drinking cultures of Northern Europe countries to that of Southern Europe countries. Cameron (2000) found that countries in the northern region are seen to have ‘wet’ drinking cultures, in other words people in the northern region drink excessively in order to become drunk as a result of bringing about more alcohol into their daily lives and adhering to fewer government restrictions. This supports the idea that drinking to get drunk is seen as ‘normal’ behaviour to youngsters within the British culture. The definitions of ‘binge drinking’ are broad in nature and have been questioned considerably. There is no one such definition to define binge drinking. Studies have shown that many respondents very rarely define binge drinking in accordance with the number of units actually being consumed. A 1997 report for the US based International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) addressed the lack of formal definitions. Recent publications have defined binge drinking as drinking over half of the recommended number of units of alcohol in a week per session. These publications show that researchers tend to adopt the most general definition based on previous research conducted, with no such explanation or rationale for their stated definition. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) illustrates binge drinking as drinking eight or more units of alcohol at least one day in the week for men, and six or more units for women, this is in line with sensible drinking guidelines using daily standards, therefore could serve as an estimate of binge drinking, with the absence of a Department of Health (DoH) definition. A longitudinal study carried out on high school students by Schulenberg et al (1996) found that 30% of the students had altered their drinking patterns during the conversion period of adolescence to adulthood. 20% of the students who classed themselves as binge drinkers had reduced their heavy drinking as they reached adulthood. However, 165 of the students had increased their binge drinking or had to some extent sustained a pattern of persistent binge drinking as they reached adulthood. Once adult roles are undertaken such as employment, marriage and parenthood, and then these patterns of drinking are shown to decrease and fade out. Also, unfavourable life events such as divorce are correlated with binge drinking, as statistics show that 29.6% of separated and divorced people were occupied in weekly binges, compared to that of only 17.9% of married people.

 

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