Alcohol Use & Student Athletes

1. Alcohol Use & Student Athletes Anthony DeLuca

2. During the 1980's, the connection between collegiate athletic participation and substance use gained increasing attention throughout the United States • Media outlets began reporting incidents of alcohol and other drug problems among student-athletes • College athletes are heavy consumers of alcohol compared to non-athlete college students • What do you think is the average consumption of beer in a week for a students athlete? Student? • 10

3. A recent NCAA report revealed the number of college athletes engaging in binge drinking has increased dramatically over that past five years • Studies show athletes misuse alcohol more and experience higher rates of alcohol-related consequences when compared to non-athletes • The most significant social ecological predictors of alcohol consumption were personal beliefs, perceptions of teammates use, and perceptions of overall campus use. • The guidelines suggest that a heavy drinker is a male who reports drinking more than 14 per week or 4 drinks per occasion; or a female who reports drinking more than 7 drinks per week or more than 3drinks per occasion. • Alcohol rules of coaches and athletic departments had no impact on athletes' alcohol behavior

4. An anonymous survey was administered to 211 student-athletes at a mid-size, southeastern university. • Results indicated substantial drinking behavior among this group. The studies revealed that student-athletes who were non-leaders and engaged in heavy, intermittent drinking perceived greater risks associated with alcohol consumption • Greater leniency from coaches • Greater levels of alcohol use among peers.

5. What are the issues that lead athletes to drink excessively? • Peer Pressure • Celebrate • Have a good time with teammates or friends • Make one feel good • Pressure of Athletics • Structure of season allows opportunity to party • Balance athletic expectations with academic demands • Balance their social lives and maintain condition • “Social Norm Theory” • - assumption of peer influences • - false perceptions • - natural reaction to fit in

6. Evaluations on alcohol use, binge drinking, and substance abuse related consequences between non-athletes and athletes show alarming results. Alcohol in athletes vs. non-athletes Anger was discovered to be an important difference among athletes who use alcohol and athletes who do not. A correlation was noticed between the attitudes of athletes Male and female athletes: -consumed significantly more alcohol per week -engaged in binge drinking more often -suffered more adverse consequences from their drug problems.

7. Greater sensation seeking was more highly associated with frequency of heavy drinking episodes in the student-athlete sample compared to the non-athlete sample. Possibly from reasons such as: • Athletes put more importance on socializing and parties. • They tend to have large groups of friends, possible bad influences in the large group of friends. • Most athletes tend to have 5 or more close friends, they often get confused on what decisions should be made because of the different opinions by their friends. • Most athletes spend a great amount of time socializing with fellow students. • Thus, they tend to hear about more parties. • They are more likely to get invited to parties because of their athlete status.

8. Alcohol and Athletes Don’t Mix Why alcohol is especially bad for athletes: • Deprives your body of HGH • Triggers the production of a substance in your liver that is directly toxic to testosterone. • It can disrupt the water balance in muscle cells, altering their ability to produce ATP • Alcohol also negatively affects: -endurance - metabolism - muscle growth - nutrition - overall performance

9. Chart • This chart shows the difference between a student-athlete, and a non-athlete

10. Chart #2 Shows the relationship of coping motivations for drinking to drinking-related negative consequences

11. Drinking Motives Measures • The DMM is made up of the four main reasons for consuming alcohol: Coping, Mood Enhancement, Conformity, and Social Motives.

12. The facts about college athletes and drinking • Per the Core Institute survey, 78 percent of college athletes cited using alcohol on at least one instance in the past 30 days. • In the past year, 88 percent of student athletes admitted to using alcohol. • 57 percent of men and 48 percent of female college athletes are binge drinkers and undergo a larger number of alcohol-related issues than other students. • Men on intercollegiate sports teams consume 10 alcoholic drinks a week, or 52 percent more than non-athletes, who average six drinks a week.

13. What prevention approaches have been used in other universities? - with social norm education, students might actually change their drinking practices. A social-norm education program targeted Division III athletes in a NY state college. • This program contributed to a 30% drop in both excessive alcohol consumption and the negative consequences of drinking • Among student-athletes with the highest exposure to the program, personal alcohol use dropped by 50% • Given these results, this change can have a positive impact on schools, campus’ and potentially our entire sports society.

14. Alcohol and College Athletesa study done by Toben F. Nelson and Henry Wechsler • This study examines heavy episodic alcohol consumption and associated harms in collegiate athletes in the United States. The factors which may promote or deter such use are explored.

15. Why is any of this important? • Now knowing the reasons why most student athletes and even non-athlete students drink preventative measure could be altered to increase the rate of effectiveness. • There are already attempts to prevent college athletes and non-athletes from drinking, but just because they exist and are tried does not mean they have been effective.

16. Conclusion of this study • Athletes are a high-risk group for binge drinking and alcohol-related harms. Although special educational programs have targeted this group they have not sufficiently impacted the problem.

17. Suggestions for the future • Future prevention efforts targeted for athletes should address the unique social and environmental influences on athletes. • Programs should also take advantage of motives of athletes for self-limiting alcohol intake. • Colleges, athletic departments, coaches, and sports medicine professionals are urged to act to help reduce athletes risk of alcohol-related harms.