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Benefits and drawbacks of social non‐drinking identified by British university students
Author(s) -
Conroy Dominic,
de Visser Richard O.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1111/dar.12610
Subject(s) - psychology , context (archaeology) , agency (philosophy) , social support , intervention (counseling) , normative , hostility , ambivalence , social environment , social psychology , environmental health , medicine , psychiatry , political science , paleontology , law , biology , philosophy , epistemology
Abstract Introduction and Aims Promoting the benefits of not drinking alcohol during social occasions where other peers may be drinking (‘social non‐drinking’) may support more moderate drinking among young people. We analysed free‐text responses from university students to gauge the frequency/focus of identified benefits of, and drawbacks to, social non‐drinking. We also assessed whether/how identified benefits and drawbacks were associated with recent drinking behaviour and psychological correlates of harmful drinking. Design and Methods Secondary data analyses were conducted on 511 free‐text responses provided by students participating in a health intervention. Template analysis was used to identify potential benefits of social non‐drinking. Links between responses relating to social non‐drinking and behavioural/psychological measures were assessed. Results 46.2% of female students and 42.0% of male students had engaged in social non‐drinking in the previous week. Overarching benefits of social non‐drinking included: improved physical and psychological health; increased self‐esteem/agency; a higher quality social life and having a more stable/productive life. Hostility/ambivalence to social non‐drinking was evident in 26.6% of responses. Among women only, endorsing higher self‐esteem and agency as a benefit of social non‐drinking was associated with increased intention to heed government drinking recommendations (β = 0.10, P = 0.036). Discussion and Conclusions Focus on social non‐drinking may help encourage more moderate drinking among young people by articulating positives of social non‐drinking while raising awareness of a changing normative context in which non‐drinking is increasingly more common among young people.