College Athletes and Alcohol Abuse

College Athletes and Alcohol Abuse

The purpose of this work in writing is to conduct a comprehensive literature review of the research in regards to the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumed by college athletes compared to non-athletes and to investigate the causes of alcohol abuse and its effects on athletic performance and the general health of college athletes.

Prevalence of Alcohol Consumption by College Athletes Compared to Non-Athletes

Summary of the culture of sports/college athletes and drinking

The work of Vamplew (2007) reports that the culture of sport is "historically…closely associated with the consumption of alcohol, as is so often the case when men- and it usually was men in those early days of sports -- get together to socialize…" (p.1) Alcohol has historically been consumed by athletes For example Vamplew writes "At the end of the nineteenth century cricketers still resorted to alcohol during a day's play and were being advised that when playing on a hot day 'beer and stout are too heady and heavy and 'gin and ginger beer is too sickly sweet' and that 'shandy-gaff, sherry or claret and soda are the most thirst-quenching…" (2007, p.2) In the 1890s the Oxford boat-race crew was allowed to consume a glass of draught beer or claret and water with lunch however, by 1888, Montague Shearman "leaned towards the increasing trans-Atlantic tendency to adopt the 'system of training upon water alone, and taking no alcohol in any shape during training'." (Vamplew, 2007, p.2)

b. Review of the literature comparing quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption by college athletes compared to non-athletes

The work of Brenner and Swanik (2007) entitled "High-Risk Drinking Characteristics in Collegiate Athletes" reports that "high-risk drinking on college campuses remains a significant public health problem. In particular, college athletes are a high-risk group for this behavior: the prevalence of alcohol use by intercollegiate athletes in about 80%." (p.267) Previous research reported by three large multi-institutional studies is stated to indicate that college athletes are significantly more likely to have binge drank in the past 2 weeks than are nonathletes, with approximately 60% of male and 50% of female college athletes self-reporting binge drinking behavior." (Brenner and Swanik, 2007, p.267)

The national average of college students reporting binge drinking in the past two weeks is stated at 44%, which is significantly lower than that of college athletes. (Brenner and Swanik, 2007, paraphrased) Studies have also shown that college athletes not only consume alcohol more frequently than non-athletes do but in addition, 29% of male college athletes and 24% of female college athletes "reported binge drinking 3 or more times in the past 2 weeks compared with 18% and 15% of men and women nonathletes, respectively." (Brenner and Swanik, 2007, p. 268) Binge drinking was reported in a recent study to occur with 30.7% of male college athletes compared to 24% of male nonathletes. As well, 25% of female college athletes were found to binge drink compared to 20% of female nonathletes. (Brenner and Swanik, 2007, p. 268)

College athletes have been found to be "more likely than are their nonathlete peers to engage in risky activities related to alcohol consumption, including driving under the influence of alcohol…" (Brenner and Swanik, 2007, p. 267) In addition, college athletes are found to engage in more alcohol-related risk behaviors such as being involved in physical fights than are nonathletes. The work of Nativ, Puffer and Green separates Division I athletes according to contact and noncontact sports and found that athletes in contact sports "had a greater quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption than did those participating in noncontact sports." (Brenner and Swanik, 2007, p. 268)

The work of Ford (2007) entitled "Substance Use Among College Athletes: A Comparison Based on Sport-Team Affiliation" reports that college athletes "are at a greater risk for alcohol use: Athletes report more extreme styles of alcohol consumption, binge drink at higher rates, are more likely to binge when they drink and get drunk more often." (p.368) The work of Storch, Storch, and Killiany (2007) reports that studies that examined rates of psychological maladjustment as compared to non-athletic peers have suggested that intercollegiate athletes experience greater psychopathology. For example, as compared to nonathletes, elite intercollegiate athletes report more problems with alcohol and are at greater risk for eating disorder symptomatology." (p.88)