Nutr Res Pract.  2012 Apr;6(2):146-154.

Drinking behaviors by stress level in Korean university students

• Chung HK
• Lee HY

Abstract

The purposes of this study are to estimate the stress level of university students, and to verify the relationships between stress level and drinking behavior. A questionnaire survey was administered to 430 university students in the Gangwon area in Korea from November 5 to November 28, 2008, and data from 391 students were used for the final statistical analysis. The most stressful factor was "Worry about academic achievements" (2.86 by Likert-type 4 point scale). The subjects were divided into two groups, a low stress group (< or = 65.0) and a high stress group (> or = 66.0), by the mean value (65.1) and median value (66.0) of the stress levels. The drinking frequency was not different between the two stress groups, but the amount of alcohol consumption was significantly different (P < 0.05). The portion of students reporting drinking "7 glasses or over" was higher in the lower stress group than in the higher stress group. In addition, factor 6, "Lack of learning ability", was negatively correlated with drinking frequency and the amount of alcohol consumption (P < 0.05), and factor 3, "Worry about academic achievements", was negatively correlated with the amount of drinking (P < 0.05). The major motive for drinking was "When overjoyed or there is something to celebrate" (2.62), and the main expected effect of drinking was "Drinking enables me to get together with people and shape my sociability" (2.73). The higher stress group showed significantly higher scores on several items in the categories of motives (P < 0.01), negative experience (P < 0.05), and expected effects (P < 0.05) of drinking than the lower stress group. Our results imply that university students at the lower stress level may drink more from social motives in positive drinking environments, while those at the higher stress level may have more problematic-drinking despite their smaller amount of alcohol consumption.

Keyword

Drinking behavior; stress; university students

MeSH Terms

Alcohol Drinking
Drinking
Drinking Behavior
Eyeglasses
Glass
Humans
Korea
Learning
Surveys and Questionnaires

Reference

1. Bradizza CM, Reifman A, Barnes GM. Social and coping reasons for drinking: predicting alcohol misuse in adolescents. J Stud Alcohol. 1999. 60:491–499.

2. Ahn HR, Pai HJ, Kim ES. Relation between self-esteem and the degree of drinking of the aged in the C city. J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 1999. 8:478–492.

3. Disease related with alcohol. The Korean Alcohol Research Foundation [Internet]. cited 2012 February 17. Available from: http://www.karf.or.kr/information/alcoholDB_list_1.asp.

4. Ministry of Health and Welfare. Korea Health Statistics 2010: Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANESV-1). 2010. Seoul: 24.

5. Summary health statistics for U.S. adults: national health interview survey, 2010. Vital health statistics. National Center for Health Statistics [Internet]. cited 2012 February 17. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_252.pdf.

6. Kim SJ, Lee MH, Hwang MH, Namkoong K, Kim BH, Kim SA. Comparison of psychiatric symptom manifestation rate and family function of alcoholic and non-alcoholic family members. J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc. 1989. 28:1073–1081.

7. Conger JJ. Alcoholism: theory, problem and challenge. II. Reinforcement theory and the dynamics of alcoholism. Q J Stud Alcohol. 1956. 17:296–305.

8. Cooper ML, Frone MR, Russell M, Mudar P. Drinking to regulate positive and negative emotions: a motivational model of alcohol use. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1995. 69:990–1005.

9. Cox WM, Klinger E. A motivational model of alcohol use. J Abnorm Psychol. 1988. 97:168–180.

10. Kim YS. The relationship between coping motives for drinking and drinking behavior among college students. Ment Health Soc Work. 2000. 9:5–23.

11. Lee MK. Psychosocial factors for drinking behavior. Korean J Psychol Gen. 1993. 12:165–179.

12. Fidler TL, LoLordo VM. Failure to find postshock increases in ethanol preference. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1996. 20:110–121.

13. McCreary DR, Sadava SW. Stress, drinking, and the adverse consequences of drinking in two samples of young adults. Psychol Addict Behav. 1998. 12:247–261.

14. Ayer LA, Harder VS, Rose GL, Helzer JE. Drinking and stress: an examination of sex and stressor differences using IVR-based daily data. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2011. 115:205–212.

15. Becker HC, Lopez MF, Doremus-Fitzwater TL. Effects of stress on alcohol drinking: a review of animal studies. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2011. 218:131–156.

16. Aldridge-Gerry AA, Roesch SC, Villodas F, McCabe C, Leung QK, Da Costa M. Daily stress and alcohol consumption: modeling between-person and within-person ethnic variation in coping behavior. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2011. 72:125–134.

17. Ham LS, Hope DA. College students and problematic drinking: a review of the literature. Clin Psychol Rev. 2003. 23:719–759.

18. Han SY, Lee MK, Shin HC. Gender differences in the effect of risk factors on drinking problems in college students. Korean J Couns Psychother. 2005. 17:1003–1019.

19. Chun S. Analysis of college student binge drinking and alcohol-related problems. J Korean Alcohol Sci. 2002. 3:221–233.

20. Chung SK. Factors influencing problem drinking among female college students in Korea. Ment Health Soc Work. 2007. 27:176–198.

21. Park SB. Recognition status of health related to smoking, alcohol drinking, and stress in a working place. J Korean Acad Fam Med. 2001. 22:1814–1822.

22. Johnston LD, O'Malley PM, Bachman JG, Schulenberg JE. Monitoring the future: national survey results on drug use, 1975-2010. Volume I. Secondary school students. 2010. cited 2012 February 17. Available from: http://safeschools.state.co.us/docs/mtf-vol1_2010.pdf.

23. Han GS, Yang SH, Jeon GG. Effects of perceived stress and ways of coping on symptoms of stress and drinking related problems among female college students. Korean J Health Psychol. 2003. 8:565–579.

24. Chon KK, Kim KH, Yi JS. Development of the revised life stress scale for college students. Korean J Health Psychol. 2000. 5:316–335.

25. Go FM, Monachello ML, Baum T. Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry. 1996. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.;80–81.

26. O'Hare TM. Drinking in college: consumption patterns, problems, sex differences and legal drinking age. J Stud Alcohol. 1990. 51:536–541.

27. Jang SO. Drinking behavior and drinking canon of college students. Korean J Soc Welf. 1997. 31:423–440.

28. Park KM, Rhee MK. Effects of perceived stress, social support and drinking motives on drinking behaviors among college students. Korean J Health Psychol. 2005. 10:277–293.

29. Farber PD, Khavari KA, Douglass FM 4th. A factor analytic study of reasons for drinking: empirical validation of positive and negative reinforecement dimensions. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1980. 48:780–781.

30. Feldman L, Harvey B, Holowaty P, Shortt L. Alcohol use beliefs and behaviors among high school students. J Adolesc Health. 1999. 24:48–58.

31. Kuntsche E, Knibbe R, Gmel G, Engels R. Why do young people drink? A review of drinking motives? Clin Psychol Rev. 2005. 25:841–861.

32. Hong SM, Yang JA, Jung SI, Cho JY. Comparison of drinking behaviors and symptoms after drinking alcohol of the female and male college students in Ulsan metropolitan city. Proceedings of Spring Symposium of the Korean Society of Community Nutrition. 2005. 142–143.

33. Carney MA, Armeli S, Tennen H, Affleck G, O'Neil TP. Positive and negative daily events, perceived stress, and alcohol use: a diary study. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2000. 68:788–798.

34. Helzer JE, Badger GJ, Searles JS, Rose GL, Mongeon JA. Stress and alcohol consumption in heavily drinking men: 2 years of daily data using interactive voice response. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2006. 30:802–811.

35. Lewis BA, O'Neill HK. Alcohol expectancies and social deficits relating to problem drinking among college students. Addict Behav. 2000. 25:295–299.

36. Saunders JB, Kypri K, Walters ST, Laforge RG, Larimer ME. Approaches to brief intervention for hazardous drinking in young people. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2004. 28:322–329.

37. Kim HE, Park K, Jung EH, Han JY. The effects of perceived stress, dysfunctional metacognition on problematic drinking of female university student. Proceedings of 2009 Annual Symposium of Korean Psychological Association. 2009. 340–341.

38. Park JS. A study on factors affecting problem drinking of university students. J Korean Public Health Assoc. 2000. 26:393–413.

39. Han SH, Han D. The related factors of alcohol drinking in Korean young adults. J Korean Public Health Assoc. 2001. 27:130–143.

40. Schneier FR, Martin LY, Liebowitz MR, Gorman JM, Fyer AJ. Alcohol abuse in social phobia. J Anxiety Disord. 1989. 3:15–23.

41. Lépine JP, Pélissolo A. Social phobia and alcoholism: a complex relationship. J Affect Disord. 1998. 50:Suppl 1. S23–S28.

42. Stevens S, Gerlach AL, Rist F. Effects of alcohol on ratings of emotional facial expressions in social phobics. J Anxiety Disord. 2008. 22:940–948.

43. Sayette MA. An appraisal-disruption model of alcohol's effects on stress responses in social drinkers. Psychol Bull. 1993. 114:459–476.

44. Frezza M, di Padova C, Pozzato G, Terpin M, Baraona E, Lieber CS. High blood alcohol levels in women. The role of decreased gastric alcohol dehydrogenase activity and first-pass metabolism. N Engl J Med. 1990. 322:95–99.

45. Women and alcohol. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) [Internet]. 2011. cited 2012 February 17. Available from: http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/womensfact/womensfact.htm.