Citation

Conroy D, de Visser RO. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2018; 37(Suppl 1): S89-S97.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/dar.12610

PMID

28940414

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.

© 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Language: en

Keywords

alcohol consumption; mixed methods; non-drinking; template analysis; university students