The reliability of compensatory health beliefs and the effect it has on alcohol consumption
Abstract
Aim
The aim of the study was to investigate whether reading government guidelines on alcohol consumption would affect an individual’s intentions to drink within the guidelines or not. The study is also focused on investigating the reliability of alcohol specific compensatory health belief scale using test-retest and internal consistency measures.
Introduction
There has been a lot of recent research into compensatory health beliefs, in particular what activates these beliefs. Compensatory health beliefs are beliefs that a person activates as compensation after engaging in unhealthy behaviours. An example of this is someone believing that they can have a piece of cake as they are going to the gym later. They understand that the cake is unhealthy but try and compensate for that by doing something healthy to counteract it. This study focuses on compensatory health beliefs surrounding binge drinking in the UK. Binge drinking has become a serious problem in the UK, in 2012-13, there were an estimated 1,008,850 admissions related to alcohol consumption where an alcohol-related disease, injury or condition was the primary reason for hospital admission or a secondary diagnosis. (2014, May 29). Statistics on Alcohol - England, Retrieved from http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB14184. This shows the severity of the alcohol problem in the UK and that people abuse alcohol. These
First of all, binge drinking has been a problem for some time now. It has climbed over the past few years, capturing more attention from the media. A study
Councils and the government can provide help such as counselling for binge drinkers, pamphlets in health clinics, help lines and information on their website. These information and opportunities can be promoted so that binge drinkers can have an option on improving their health and lifestyle.
(Alcohol and Public Health,2017) study found the following: Binge drinking is a serious but preventable public health problem.
Alcoholism is a prominent substance abuse issue in Western society. The treatment method of controlled drinking as opposed to abstinence is a continuing cause of controversy in alcohol research to this day. The US is different from Europe in its acceptance of controlled drinking as a goal of treatment: “in the US alcohol dependence is typically depicted as a ‘recurring disease’ and the ‘successful abstainer’ as a ‘recovering’ though never ‘recovered’ alcoholic” (Coldwell, 2005). Depending on the alcohol abuse patient’s individual characteristics, either controlled drinking or abstinence is chosen as a treatment.
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
Binge drinking is one of the third most preventable causing deaths in the United States (McGinnis & Foege, 1993). At the micro level most teens do it to seek acceptance from within their group of peers and we also undergo peer pressure and think they need to drink to be able to be accepted and then at the mid-range level most college males students drink to seek their masculinity from within a friend group. Then once at the macro level different countries with different culture values may drink alcohol more than others even though they may drink more there still is a chance that someone may develop alcoholism.Such things as symbolic interactionism, conflict, and functionalist perspective are all associated with binge drinking
Alcohol use has spanned history. In fact, there is speculation that alcohol use actually preceded the formation of societies (Doweiko, 2015, p. 30). Thus, alcohol has long been a part of mankind’s life. The function of alcohol has unarguably changed throughout the course of history, as it was first used for nutritional purposes and then later on for religious purposes (Doweiko, 2015, p. 32). Today, alcohol serves a social purpose. In the United States, the prevalence of use is quite high, with just over 50% of the population partaking monthly (Doweiko, 2015, p. 34). This statistic is somewhat alarming considering alcohol use comes with a number of potential adverse consequences. Case in point, even
My Virtual Medical Centre (myVMC, 2016) identifies that binge drinking has significantly increased since 2004, as now approximately 18% of Australian adults engage in binge drinking once a week, while back in 2004, approximately
There is a general feeling that filling in the Drinker Inventory of Consequences an individual responds to a number of events that drinker’s experience. It is a well-crafted strategy that helps to assess the problems caused by alcoholism since it encircles the events within personal life, family relationships, job problems, and financial constraints, problems with the police, belligerence, and others associated with drinking. Although the draft highlights most of the key issues affecting or affected by alcoholism, it also in a small extent invades the privacy of the drinkers. For instance, a person is asked if the sex life is affected by alcohol, change in marriage or love relationships, if a drinker has lost a marriage or a close love relationship. These are supposed to be private/personal issues but are brought up in the survey draft. Consequently, the questions asked are on target for clients
Australia has a well-established and deeply ingrained drinking culture and while most people are satisfied with a few beers on the odd weekend or a glass of wine with dinner, others have become addicted and have developed alcohol dependence. With alcohol dependency now the most common substance use disorder in Australia the effects of this disorder are far-reaching and catastrophic not only for the individual suffering the addiction and their family and friends, but for our government as well who is shelling out billions of dollars annually to address the fallout of this disorder. However, the devastation caused by such addictions may be a thing of the past as Professor Daryl Davies from the University of Southern California has
The prevalence of binge drinking in 2012 for females was in the middle-performing 50% for all counties with 8.7% of females engaging in binge drinking, while the prevalence of binge drinking in 2012 for males was in the middle-performing 50% for all counties with 24.6% of males engaging in binge drinking. To compare, the national average in 2012 was 12.4% for females and 24.5% for males. The change from 2002 to 2012 for females was in the best-performing 25% of all counties while the change for males was in the middle-performing 50%, with females experiencing a decrease of 0.3 percentage points and males experiencing an increase of 0 percentage points. To compare with the national average, females had an increase of 1.6 percentage points and males had an
The results collected from the survey were analysed to help identify the target groups’ behaviours, attitudes and beliefs on the Australian cultural norms of drinking and what they think a binge drinker is. There were 15 questions within the survey, each one was analysed and then categorised into three sections to help construct statements about
Although both essays address the same topic concerning binge drinking, the information within each of the essays is contrast of each other. The difference regarding the publication of each of the essays portrays the audience that will view its justification. Those in need of valid statistics rely on the essay published in the medical journal, while those looking to be persuaded by the dangers of binge drinking turn to the essay within the educator’s journal.
Throughout history, society has engaged in taking substances such as alcohol, that alter our physical being or our psychological state of mind. There are many experiences and pressures that force people to feel like they have to drink in order to cope with life, but for many alcohol is a part of everyday life, just like any other beverage. Alcohol is introduced to us in many ways, through our family, television, movies, and friends’. These “sociocultural variants are at least as important as physiological and psychological variants when we are trying to understand the interrelations of alcohol and human behavior”#. How we perceive drinking and continue drinking can be determined by the drinking habits we see, either by who we drink with,
The audience will be asked to indicate weather they have been affected by alcoholism directly or indirectly. They will be asked to name the few effects they have experienced that they never liked about people engrossed in alcoholism and the extended effects that they have seen on the family.