Legislative changes are aimed at improving New Zealand 's drinking culture, to reduce the harm caused by excessive drinking, however alcohol has become more readily available in more places over the years (New Zealand Government, 1989, 1999, 2012, 2013). Previous studies have continued to question whether such changes have made a difference in our drinking culture.
The purpose of this report is to focus on the comparison of alcohol consumption for male/ female students studying the General and Applied Psychology with the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, past or present. This experiment compares male/ female drinking habits and consumption for the last 12 months. It is hypothesised that male and female patterns of alcohol consumption are different, as past studies have shown that males consume alcohol than females (XXXXXX).
It is important to note that one standard drink is 12.5mls or 10 grams of pure alcohol, or one can or stubbie of beer, half a large bottle of beer, one small glass of wine or one double nip of spirits. The recommended amount of standard drinks on one occasion is 6 standard drinks for men, or 4 standard drinks for women.
Male and Female Student Alcohol Consumption Comparison.
- Overview of main topic(s), key terms defined
- Previous research and theories introduced, clear links to current study, comments on limitations.
- Summarises major points from the review of literature, states rationale and aim of the study, ends with hypothesis(es).
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Alcohol is the most abused licit psychoactive drugs that affect one 's ability to think rationally and distorts their judgement if consumed excessively. Alcohol addiction is an illness arising from prolonged and excessive intake of alcoholic drinks. An alcoholic is a person suffering from alcohol addiction. Prolonged excessive use of large quantities can eventually lead to chronic health diseases like cirrhosis of the liver, anaemia, cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression seizures, gout and alcohol related accidents and crime. Statistics show that 9 million people in England drink more than the recommended daily intake while an estimated 8.697 died of alcohol-related deaths in 2014. According to the WHO worldwide alcohol causes 1.8 million deaths (3.2% of total) and 58.3 million (4% of total) of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Alcohol beverages with varied percentage content are consumed globally during religious, social, cultural events, festivals and other occasions. The use of alcoholic beverages has been an integral part of many cultures for thousands of years (McGovern, 2009). Over the centuries, there have been ongoing measures, research, interventions and policies which are aimed at promoting the moderate use of alcohol with a particular emphasis on preventing or reducing undesired outcomes. This essay will outline the key components of brief interventions in alcohol, the difference in approach with traditional methods of treatment and in conclusion, the
“80 percent of teen-agers have tried alcohol, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in the top three causes of death among teens: accidents, homicide and suicide” (Underage, CNN.com pg 3). Students may use drinking as a form of socializing, but is it really as good as it seems? The tradition of drinking has developed into a kind of “culture” fixed in every level of the college student environment. Customs handed down through generations of college drinkers reinforce students' expectation that alcohol is a necessary ingredient for social success. These perceptions of drinking are the going to ruin the lives of the students because it will lead to the development alcoholism. College students who drink a lot, while in a college
Based on a research finding, some individuals indicate that when they are sober and others drink around them, it was considered boring (Seaman& Ikegwuonu , 2010, p.21). It is clear that beverages have become an activity as well as apart of socialisation. Its been described as a social facilitator during interaction and when establishing a connection with others. Data explores that peer group activity has lead to a strong connection of peer experience aligned with intoxication Seaman& Ikegwuonu (2010,p.22). This elaborates the effect of drunkenness. (Borsari & Carey 2001, p.392) stated alcohol played a vital role whether its in college , social functions or peer interactions. Alcohol being referred to as an act of rebellion has today been acknowledged as something ‘normal’ in society. (Pettigrew & Donovan, 2003). Alcohol has now been considered as a social fabric that changes ones game. Gender is a general issue where men are known to drink more than females. Why does this occur?. To begin with, the term hegemonic masculinity outlines the dominant form of a heterosexual in the western world (Germov & Poole,2011, p.241). Men are seemed to be
The findings of this study may further contribute to the body of knowledge which may serve as bases for further research.
My experiences in high school and college have taught me that restricting young people from drinking does not stop them from consuming alcohol. However, is this a good reason to lower the drinking age? People’s actions should conform to the law, as the purpose of laws is to maintain order in society. If the community could eliminate or alter laws simply by consistently breaking them, then legislation would become obsolete. Although the “21 law” does not completely prevent underage drinking, it has helped to reduce the number of incidents of underage drinking. Research studies conducted between 1960 and 1999 have been reviewed by University of Minnesota epidemiologists Alexander Wagenaar and Traci Toomey. Their conclusion is that the law has “reduced both youth alcohol use and alcohol-related traffic crashes” (DeJong 3). Furthermore, in 1999, New Zealand lowered its legal drinking age from 20 to 18. The result was a “big increase in traffic crashes and injuries among 15- to 19-year-olds” (DeJong 3).
Although the amount of research conducted is valid to the nature of the source, it is insufficient for in-depth study purposes. There are no official studies or other valid sources used in this article and a bibliography, naturally, is not provided.
Alcohol has long been a problem for society, and college students are no exception to this problem, especially when it comes to binge drinking. Binge drinking is classified at 5 or more drinks for men or 4 or more drinks for women within 2 hours. According to a study by Ikes, “more than 40% of college students have engaged in heavy episodic drinking (HED)” or binge drinking (find pg number) and “19% engage in frequent binge drinking” (Iconis 243). There are very large implications for college students drinking this much alcohol. First of all, there is a huge health risk when drinking at such an alarming rate and a young age. According to a study done by the Office of the Surgeon General, when exposed to large amounts of alcohol, college students run the risk of developing long term biological change. Sustained binge drinking can affect both the brain’s and body’s biology. Young college students can develop adverse mental symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. Sustained binge drinking can also “affect memory, alters sensitivity to motor impairment, and damages frontalanterior cortical regions” (25). There is also evidence that sustained binge drinking has detrimental effects on the liver, endocrine system and bones (Office of the Surgeon General 26). Not only is this a health issue, it has become a social issue as well. Students who regularly engage in binge drinking have increases in risky behavior as a result of their impaired judgement, and this risky behavior has many
Binge drinking will affect student’s behavior while in college. Once students began to drink, they began to change and act different. Drinking causes people to act out of character. Therefore, when students binge drink and if they have a low tolerance for
According to Olsson et al. (2017), problematic alcohol use is both dangerous and addictive as it affects the brain functions by producing a euphoric effect, such as a sense of happiness and excitement. VicHealth (2017) outline that alcohol is heavily promoted and socially accepted in Australian culture nowadays. As a result, people are misusing alcohol in the course of socialising and celebrating events by binge drinking. This binge drinking culture is becoming a social and economic issue in Australia (Jones, Gordon, & Andrews, 2016; Miller et al., 2016; Dietze,Wright, & Lim, 2016). The National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA, 2017) conclude that the recommended level of alcohol is 30 ml for pure alcohol and 425 ml
It is no secret that binge drinking is present amongst college aged students. However, data collected by Kelly-Weeder (2010), supports that this binge drinking is specifically present on college grounds. More specifically, binge drinking is even more prevalent amongst college students across campuses in the United States; being identified as a major public health concern (Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2013). To a greater extent, although binge drinking does not seem to discriminate amongst genders, it seems to affect more college-aged males than females as they reported more reoccurring episodes (Kelly-Weeder, 2010). Literature supports, that this major health concern can be correlated with low various negative outcomes that include poor academic performance, risky sexual
Binge drinking is a problem that has continued to have a toll on the lives of college students despite efforts by the government and school administrators to curb the trend. Many studies have been conducted to reveal the facts behind binge drinking in colleges and campuses. It is clear that for the problem of binge drinking in colleges to be resolved, it must all start by understanding the factors that influence college students to engage in this behaviour and the impacts that binge drinking have had on the lives of college students. This is because students who do engage in binge drinking have their
Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the primary assessment tool in determining how under the influence and defined as the amount of alcohol per volume of blood for example, 0.01 BAC equates to 0.01gram of alcohol per 100mls of blood. Objective studies of the dose-response relationship between BAC with clinical symptoms of impairment have helped advance drink driving policies (Babor, 2003). However, the effects of alcohol on individuals are not uniform for all. The symptoms of a chronic alcohol drinker compared to the clinical signs of an acute alcohol drinker will vary significantly, even with the same BAC (Dubowski, 1980).
In another study done by Stephen Porter and John Pryor (2007), they related the number of drinks per week to time management and grades by separating the groups into gender and school type. Women typically seemed to spend less time drinking, especially at all women’s schools or research universities, than men at any kind of university. For the students who did seem to engage in heavier drinking, the smaller amount
Alcohol consumption and abuse as it relates to ‘social drinking’, or drinking copious amounts of alcohol at social gatherings, was the topic of this article. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Laboratory (NIAAA) 43.1 percent of men and 28.8 percent of women 18 and older in the study considered binge drinkers, meaning they consumed four or more drinks in the time span of two hours, within last year. This indicates that many young adults believe they are simply drinking socially, but could over-drinking which can have many adverse short term, and potentially long term, affects. Having immense headaches days after drinking that reduce productivity, and law violations while intoxicated are some examples of how alcohol abuse negatively affects us.
In the United States alone the drinking patterns throughout history have changed dramatically to reflect the times. Starting out in colonial times the usage of alcohol use was seen as a blessing, and harmless to society. It was acceptable to drink while at work, and during social events, however drinking alone was highly frowned upon. Many early religions believed that alcohol was a gift from God, “man should partake of God’s gift with out wasting or abusing it”#. To enhance and encourage the social