Alcohol involvement in Swedish University freshmen related to gender, age, serious relationship and family history of alcohol problems.
Author
Summary, in English
Aim: The primary aim of this study was to describe alcohol involvement in relation to gender and different age cohorts among freshmen at two Swedish universities. The secondary aim was to investigate whether the results were related to a likelihood of students being in serious relationships and/or had a first-degree relative with alcohol problems. Methods: Two complete cohorts of university freshmen at two homogeneous universities were asked to participate in an intervention study, and the results of the basic assessments are presented in this article. The following instruments were used: the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Estimated Blood Alcohol Concentration (eBAC) and a shortened version of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ). Results: A total of 2032 (72%) freshmen agreed to participate. The mean AUDIT score was 8.8 (4.9) for men and 6.0 (+4.0) for women, and there were high correlations between the AUDIT and other instruments. There were significant differences between different age groups for both men and women. Both genders were more likely to have AUDIT scores higher than the usual cut-off levels for high-risk interventions among those with first-degree heredity of alcohol problems, while those students in serious relationships were less likely to have AUDIT scores above the usual cut-off levels for high-risk interventions. Conclusion: This study reveals a high level of alcohol involvement among Swedish university freshmen. This is affected by age, gender, heredity of alcohol problems and serious relationships.
Publishing year
2007
Language
English
Pages
448-455
Publication/Series
Alcohol and Alcoholism
Volume
42
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Topic
- Substance Abuse
Status
Published
Research group
- Clinical Health Promotion Centre
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1464-3502