UWE Students Relationship with Alcohol NUS Alcohol Impact Survey Results 2015-2016
About Alcohol Impact
Annual Student Alcohol Survey
The respondents
Gender
Age
Study Status
Year of Study
Nationality
Accommodation
Patterns & practices of alcohol consumption
How often are students drinking?
How often are students drinking? Students most commonly reported drinking alcohol 2-3 days a week (35%), and in total over two thirds reported drinking alcohol at least once a week (67.9%).
11% of students said they don’t currently drink alcohol.
In comparison to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort, UWE students are more likely to drink alcohol and consume it more often.
How often are students getting drunk?
How often are students getting drunk? 39% of students reported that they drank to get drunk less often than once per week .
46% of students reported drinking alcohol with the deliberate intention of getting drunk at least once per week, with 14% reported purposefully drinking to get drunk more than once a week. Overall UWE students were more likely to drink alcohol with the deliberate intention of getting drunk, and do this more often compared to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Drinking location
Drinking location The most common location students drink is at home/ in their accommodation (53%).
Nearly a fifth of students report regularly visiting the student union bar (19%) and only 13% reported regularly attending the student union nightclub. The most popular on-premise venues are local nightclubs (42%) and local pubs (31%). In comparison to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort, UWE students were more likely to drink at home or in accommodation, and at local pubs, bars and nightclubs but less likely to drink at the student union bar/nightclub.
Pre-drinking Do you pre-drink (at home or friends house) before going out for the night?
Do you deliberately get drunk at home before a night out?
Do you deliberately not eat before you go out so that you can get more drunk?
Pre-drinking 77% of students regularly start drinking either at home or at a friends house before they go out for the night. 44% of students say the regularly deliberately get drunk at home before a night out. A small, but concerning number of students (5%) deliberately skip eating before going out so they can get more drunk.
UWE students were more likely to pre-drink and with the intention of getting drunk compared to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Drinking attitudes and behaviours I don’t have to get drunk to have a good night out
It can be difficult not to drink too much on a night out
Getting drunk means I’ll have a good night out
Drinking too much too quickly can cut short a great night out with friends
Drinking attitudes and behaviour 75% of UWE students say they don’t have to get drunk to have a good time. Despite this over half of UWE students say it is difficult not to drink too much on a night out and that getting drunk means their have a good night out. However, the vast majority of UWE students (81.6%) recognise the potential for drinking too much to quickly to cut short their night out. The drinking attitudes and behaviours of UWE students were similar to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Drinking games and buying drinks Taken advantage of drink offers such as happy hours Bought larger measures of alcohol because they are on offer
Purchased alcoholic drinks in rounds
Taken part in drinking games
Drinking games and buying drinks 36.7% of UWE students report taking part in drinking games either most or every time they drink alcohol. Over a third (35.8%) of UWE students take advantage of drink offers such as happy hours, or buy larger amounts of alcohol because they are on offer (34.7%). Nearly one fifth of UWE students (19.4%) purchase drinks in rounds every or most times they drink. Compared to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort UWE students were more likely to take part in drinking games, purchase drinks in rounds, take advantage of happy hours and buy larger amounts of alcohol because they are on offer.
Spending on alcohol Amount spent on alcoholic drinks at a bar, pub or nightclub
Amount spent on alcoholic drinks at home
Spending on alcohol Respondents were asked to provide an approximate figure for their spending on alcohol, both at home and whilst at bars, pubs and nightclubs per week. In both categories, spending up to ÂŁ9.99 is the most commonly reported spend on alcohol in a typical week. Caution must be taken when interpreting these results given the volume of alcohol that this spend might translate to in different contexts. UWE students were more likely to spend more money, both at home and at bars/pubs/nightclubs compared to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Non-drinkers The most common reasons given by UWE students for not drinking alcohol was because they did not like the taste (23%), religious or cultural reasons (22%) or because they did not like the effect alcohol had on them (22%).
Non-drinkers On a scale of 0 (very negative) and 10 (very positive) how do you think that not drinking alcohol has impact on the following? Your ability to enjoy nights out
Your ability to settle in at university
Your ability to meet new people
Your life at University in general
Non-drinkers Reflecting on the influence of not drinking on their life at university, UWE students reported that not drinking had a positive influence on their life at University in general (62%).
Not drinking was seen as having the greatest negative impact on their ability to enjoy nights out (22%) and meet new people (22%).
Similar patterns for the impact of not drinking were observed between UWE students and the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Non-drinkers Thinking about your most recent university term, when you were socialising with other students, how often did you feel that your friends expected you to drink alcohol?
UWE students reported feeling that their friends expected them to drink more often when socialising compared to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Perceptions of alcohol consumption on campus
Pre-university perceptions The majority of UWE students reported that prior to starting university they believed students got drunk all or most of the time (79%).
UWE students had higher expectations of alcohol consumption than the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Experiences at University It is almost expected that students will drink to get drunk
Drinking and getting drunk is part of university culture
The vast majority of UWE students agreed to some extent that drinking and getting drunk is part of university culture (87%), and that it is expected that students will drink to get drunk (87%).
Peers and Drinking How often have you felt that your friends you were socialising with expected you to drink alcohol?
It appears that UWE students feel more expectation to drink alcohol from peers whilst socializing than the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Peers and Drinking My university friends expect me to drink regularly and get drunk I sometimes feel pressure from my friends to drink more alcohol than I would like to
Students drink alcohol to fit in with their peers
I don’t like socialising with people who don’t drink- they don’t know how to have fun I don’t like socialising with people who get very drunk and ruin the night for others
Peers and Drinking Student responses revealed a somewhat complicated situation with regard to peer pressure. 40% of students reported feeling that their friends expected them to drink regularly and get drunk and a third of students felt pressure from friends to drink more that they would like too. Over 72% believed that students drink alcohol to fit in with their peers. However, the majority of students disagreed that people who don’t drink don’t know how to have fun (89%) and three quarters agreed that they dislike socialising with people who get very drunk. These findings were similar between UWE students and the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Impacts of alcohol consumption
Impacts: health and social well-being
The majority of both UWE students and the overall Alcohol Impact cohort agreed that ‘few students worry about how alcohol will damage their health’.
Impacts: health and social well-being
Impacts: health and social wellbeing The main impact experienced in terms of health among UWE students was vomiting (64.1%). Many UWE students reported feeling embarrassed about something they had said or done (66.8%) and many students could not remember what had happened the night before (60.6%). There was also an alarming number of UWE students having unprotected sex (27%) or regretting sexual activity (29%). Overall, UWE students experienced more negative alcohol-related consequences than the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Impacts: study and paid work
Impacts: study and paid work Respondents to the survey reported on the impact of alcohol on their educational experience, with over half of UWE students reporting to have missed a seminar/lecture/class at university. Very few UWE students reported alcohol consumption affecting assignment deadlines (1.8%), however further research may reveal an impact on the quality of work submitted. In line with previous impacts, UWE students were more likely to miss a seminar/lecture/class at university, miss social engagements and paid work that the overall Alcohol Impact cohort. However, fewer UWE students reported missing a university assignment deadline.
Impacts: crime and anti-social behaviour
Impacts: crime and anti-social behaviour The most common experience of crime or anti-social behaviour among UWE students was getting into arguments or fights, both people they knew(40.8%, 9.3%) and strangers (30.6%, 11.8% respectively). A low percentage of these students reported that these experiences translated into getting into trouble with the police (4%) and ending up with a criminal record (1%). There was a trend towards increased crime and anti-social behaviour for UWE students compared to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort, particularly with regard to getting into an argument/fight, causing damage in public places and driving whilst over the legal limit.
Impacts: personal safety and victim of crime 56% of UWE students reported that they have taken risks with their safety- this may place them at a higher risk of being a victim of crime. 10.1% of respondents reported being a victim of crime in the past semester.
These figures are slightly higher than the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Impacts: victim of crime
Impacts: victim of crime Of the UWE students that identified as a victim of crime, the most frequently reported experience was verbal abuse (54.8%). Two fifths also reported having personal items stolen (40.3%) and experiencing harassment or intimidation (40.3%). 16.1% of UWE students reported experiencing sexual assault and 12.9% reporting being in a car when the driver was over the legal limit. UWE students were more likely to be victims of verbal abuse, physical abuse, harassment or intimidation but less likely to experience theft, damage to property, sexual assault and being in a car driven by a drunk driver compared to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Reducing impacts through responsible consumption
Personal coping strategies Pacing myself when drinking allows me to have a better night out
Nowadays I think more about more behaviour when I drink than I used to
Personal coping strategies Survey respondents reported taking steps to limit their drinking, with 62% of UWE students reporting pacing themselves when drinking to allow them to have a better night out for longer, and 75% of UWE students reporting that they think more about their behaviour when drinking than they used to.
However, despite a similar number of UWE students and the overall alcohol cohort reported pacing themselves when drinking (62%), UWE students were less likely to think about their behaviour than they used to (75% and 84% respectively).
Personal coping strategies
Personal coping strategies The most common practice students reported to control their drinking and avoid getting too drink included eating before or when drinking, having one or two nights off drinking alcohol in the week, and taking into account course activities.
In general. UWE students were less likely to employ these practices that the overall Alcohol Impact cohort.
Promoting responsible consumption The survey asked students for their views on how responsible alcohol consumption could be promoted at their university.
Both UWE students and the overall Alcohol Impact cohort, overwhelmingly believed people who are drinking should be responsible for drinking safely (91% & 89% respectively).
Promoting responsible consumption Are you aware of any safe or responsible drinking campaigns, projects or activities at your university?
Have you been part of these campaigns, projects or activities in any way?
Do you feel that there are enough social events for you at university that do not involve having a drink or get drunk?
Promoting responsible consumption A significantly higher number of UWE students said they were aware of safe or responsible drinking campaigns, projects or activities at their university (36%) compared to the overall Alcohol Impact cohort (19%) Although only a small minority of both UWE students (5%) and the overall Alcohol Impact cohort (3%) reported being involved in the campaigns projects or activities in any way. Half of UWE students and the overall Alcohol Impact cohort were happy with the level of provision of social events at university that do not involve drinking or getting drunk, but over a quarter were not satisfied with current provision.
For further information please contact: Rachel Colley, Alcohol Impact Co-ordinator rachel2.colley@uwe.ac.uk Sean Johnson, Alcohol Impact Research Lead Sean3.Johnson@uwe.ac.uk