Drinking among College Students: The Use of Alcohol Due to Social Pressures

The purpose of this study was to measure college students’ use of alcohol and other drugs. The researchers hypothesized that college students would use alcohol or other drugs as a coping mechanism for stress reduction. Maintaining healthy habits will help students avoid reliance on alcohol or other drugs for relief (CDC, 2013). The dependent variable was total self-reported alcohol/drug intake and the independent variable was coping mechanism for stress. Theoretical framework was the Social Cognitive Theory, which purports behavior within the context of environmental (i.e. stress) and social factors(Bandura, 1977). The research design used was a quantitative, descriptive, non-experimental, one-shot case study. Sampling methodology was nonprobability, sample of convenience. Students who choose to participate completed a survey that took 5-10 minutes. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to report frequencies, means and significant differences. Data analyses indicated that 40.1% of participants reportedly drank to make social gatherings more fun. A third of the participants (37.4%) drank so that they become more sociable. An overall mean of 25.99 was reported for drinking as a coping mechanism (range 0-50). This mean indicated that participants use alcohol at a medium rate as a coping mechanism for stress. ANOVAs were conducted to determine significance differences of alcohol consumption by demographics. No significant differences were found by race, gender, and class rank (p\u3e0.05). Surprisingly, participants in the College of Health and Human Science were significantly more likely to drink or use other drugs (