Drinking Outcome Expectancies and Normative Perceptions of Students Engaged in University Sport in England

Abstract

?? 2015 Human Kinetics, Inc. Accepted Manuscript version reprinted by permission from Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, Vol. (1): 59-75, March 2015, doi: https://doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.2015-0005.This study examined whether students engaged in university sport have different drinking outcome expectancies and normative beliefs than students who are not engaged in university sport. A cross-sectional survey of university students in England in 2008???2009 was undertaken. A questionnaire battery, including the Drinking Expectancies Questionnaire (DEQ) and a measure of normative beliefs, was completed by 770 students from seven universities across England. Responses from 638 students who were not abstaining from alcohol were analyzed. Students engaged in university sport have significantly higher drinking expectancies of assertion compared with students not engaged in university sport. Moreover, students engaged in university sport consistently report higher personal alcohol consumption and higher perceptions of consumption in those around them than students not engaged in university sport. Both assertion and the perception that students around them drink heavily provide only a partial explanation for why students engaged in university sport drink more than those not engaged in university sport. Further research is required to identify the reasons for heavy drinking among students involved in university sport in England

Becoming Part of the Team: Female Student Athletes’ Engagement in Initiation Activities

“…Whilst no direct comparative data are available for the United Kingdom a study by Southampton Student Union into initiation activities found of those surveyed all stated that their initiation involved alcohol. This combined with the results of a study by Longstaff et al (2015) who found that UK student athletes "consistently reported that they drank significantly more frequently, drank in greater quantities, and were more often drunk than students who were not engaged in university sport" (p. 69), suggests that alcohol may be an important and significant component of British student athletes' initiation practices. In turn, excessive consumption can increase the health risks associated with initiation activities directly and indirectly (Groves, Griggs, & Leflay, 2012).…”