UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE STUDENT LIFE AND ALCOHOL STUDY 2003-2004

1. UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE STUDENT LIFE AND ALCOHOL STUDY 2003-2004 University of Lethbridge Research Team Dr. Steve Ferzacca, Principle Investigator, Department of Anthropology Paul Armstrong, undergraduate research assistant, Sociology Meghan Forsyth, research assistant Collen Furlong, undergraduate research assistant, Sociology Jocelyn Hardie, undergraduate research assistant, Anthropology Lindsay Scott, undergraduate research assistant, Sociology Janis Tanner, undergraduate research assistant, Anthropology Leanne Warrenchuk, undergraduate research assistant, Anthropology

2. ULSLAS 2003-2004 • Alcohol Awareness Committee (AAC) of the University of Lethbridge • Funding: University of Lethbridge • Vice President Academic • Vice President Finance and Administration • the Dean of Arts and Science • Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group (LPIRG)

3. Project Design & the Community • community-based participatory research project • designed & implemented by a collaborative team of U of L faculty & students • on-line survey designed & facilitated by Jon Lane and CRDC • hard-copy survey designed & facilitated by U of L Printing Services

4. Purpose of the Study • to explore the perceptions and actual use of alcohol by University of Lethbridge students • to provide baseline data for future studies • to raise awareness of issues regarding alcohol use and student life in the campus community

5. Four Phases • Phase One -- alcohol environment • alcohol availability and distribution in and around the U of L campus • Phase Two -- participant observations • bars, pubs, student residence hall, private parties • Phase Three -- survey • demographics and alcohol consumption habits of the student body • Phase Four -- qualitative interviews • stories of alcohol in student lives • Research ended in April 2004 with all phases completed

6. Student Survey Participants • Total No. of Surveys: 795 • 12% of Total Enrollments Fall 2003 • 40% male; 60% female; .04% other • 90% ages 18-26 • 97% first-fifth year of study • 13% residential students; 60% renting

7. Alcohol Use Frequencies • 10% non-users of alcohol • 90% use alcohol • 44% consume 4-5 or 6+ drinks “on a typical day when drinking” • 56% consume 3 or less drinks • 76% of those who use alcohol consume alcohol 1-2 days a week • 12% 3 days a week; 12% 4 or more days a week • 76% consumed 6 or more drinks “in the past year on one occasion” • 39% “sometimes” or “often” consume 6 or more drinks “on one occasion” • 61% “rarely” or “never” consume 6 or more drinks

8. U of L Residence Students • 9% non-users • 91% have consumed alcohol • 43% 4-5 or 6+ drinks “on a typical day” • 72% drink 1-2 days per week • 15% 3 days per week • 41% “sometimes” & “often” 6 drinks or more • 47% have on an occasion consumed 10+ drinks

9. “Social Norms” Campaigns • 56% of U of L students typically consume 3 or less drinks • 61% “rarely” or “never” consume 6 or more drinks • 57% of res students typically consume 3 or less drinks • 59% “rarely” or “never” consume 6 or more drinks

10. Alcohol Use Frequencies: Year of Study • Higher percentages of first and second year students use alcohol compared to third and fourth year students • Second year students • More likely to use alcohol • More likely to consume 4-5 or 6+ drinks “on a typical day when drinking” • More likely to use alcohol 1-2 days a week (along with third year students) • More likely to consume 6 or more drinks “on one occasion” (along with fifth year students)

11. Alcohol Use Frequencies: Gender • Men are more likely to use alcohol • 5% of men report “daily” use of alcohol • <1% of women • Women are more likely to use alcohol 1-2 days a week • 18% of men who use alcohol consume 4 or more days a week • Men are more likely to consume 4-5 or 6+ drinks “on a typical day when drinking” • 54% of men who use alcohol “sometimes” or “often” consume 6 or more drinks “on one occasion” • 29% of women who use alcohol “sometimes” or “often” consume 6 or more drinks “on one occasion” • 34% of men who use alcohol consume 6+ drinks “on a typical day when drinking”

12. Residence Student & Alcohol: Gender • 71% of women – sometimes often or daily use alcohol • 81% of men – sometimes often or daily use alcohol • 61% of men typically drink 4-5 or 6+ drinks • 32% of women drink typically drink 4-5 or 6+ drinks • 63% of men and 29% of women consume 6+ drinks sometimes and often

13. Gender Summary • U of L students who use alcohol • Men consume more alcohol than women • Men consume alcohol more often than women

14. Alcohol Use Frequencies: Residence • Higher percentages of alcohol use • students living with a “parent” or “other” compared to “renting” or “residence hall” • Lower percentages of students who consume 4-5 or 6+ drinks “on a typical day when drinking” • students living with “parent” or “other” compared to “residence hall” & “renting” • Higher percentages of students who use alcohol 1-2 days a week • students living with “parent” or “other” compared to “residence hall” & “renting”

15. Off- and On-Campus Binge drinking in the US

16. Alcohol Histories: Learning How to Drink • 87% of U of L students who use alcohol report pre-university use of alcohol • 41% of students who use alcohol report they drink more often as university students • 31% of students who use alcohol report they drink more heavily as university students • Episodic style learned during middle & high school years

17. Resident Students • 53% drink more often as university students • 40% drink more heavily as university students

18. Something New: The “Bar Scene” • “When I first came I was legal age and that first month I was out there 3 or 4 times a week. But I think at the University I mostly enjoy the interactions with people ….” • “…and that’s when I really realized you kind of got to watch. I was really naive because I had never been in the bar scene before, and it was kind of scary.” • “yeah, I actually drank a lot less my first years at the university than I did in high school. I was very uncomfortable.”

19. Alcohol Environment: Sites of Distribution & Exchange • 24 establishments interviewed: pubs & retail outlets • 9 self-identified as serving a predominantly student clientele • prices reduced for “students” • “aggressive marketing” of alcohol & alcohol consumption that specifically targets college and university students

20. Alcohol Environment & Behavior • Other studies -- “features of local alcohol economies” influenced student drinking behavior • Lethbridge alcohol environment supports and promotes a range of drinking “styles” • episodic drinking is nurtured within and by the community • ecological relationships • pricing schedules, planned promotions and activities, advertising, and manner in which alcohol is served and consumed

21. Local Flows of Alcohol: Tempo • Locational flows: Distribution & exchange sites • advertising, promotional activities, event scheduling, scheduling of staff, pricing patterns • in coordination with the U of L and LCC academic calendars on a semester, monthly, and weekly basis

22. Rhythm of Student Life & Alcohol Use • 89% of ULSLAS survey respondents enrolled in 4-6 classes • 49% of ULSLAS survey respondents employed part-time; 9% employed full-time

23. The Tempo of Drinking • “weekend” pattern of alcohol consumption • 76% of respondents reporting 1 or 2 days a week in which alcohol is consumed • 12% report drinking 3 days a week • rhythm of alcohol distribution and promotion symbolically marks “weekends” • “Weekends” are frequently extended by both students and alcohol outlets • Thursday evening and night -- “weekend” • Other nights symbolically marked by promotions and advertisements as “weekend”-like

24. story “And I actually spent a lot more time drinking not by myself (but) with friends not in the university but outside the university setting. And then, well Thursday nights. I went out every Thursday night, I remember... And then, along comes the [pub], and you always go out for specials. You always knew what was going on before you went out.”

25. Flows of Alcohol: Quantity • promotions increase quantity • weekday “weekends” • drink specials & drinking games • quantities of alcohol are consumed quickly in symbolically appropriate ways & places • drinking games & specials as symbolic action • both tempo & quantity

26. Alcohol “Expectations” & University Drinking • “Um, I actually didn’t have any expectations. I didn’t know about Thursday night drinking like that. I just thought I go to the bar more often than I ever did before. But I didn’t really have any major expectations. Oh I had heard that it was very excessive. You always got totally loaded not just going out for a drink. No one ever told me that. It was just something I assumed.”

27. “Typical University Drinking” • Other cultural terms • “binge drinking” • “heavy drinking” • “getting drunk” • “drinking excessively” • a “bender” • “chugging” • “funneling” • “typical university drinking” • 72% of U of L students report experience with this style of drinking • Defined in terms of quantity & tempo

28. Predominant Drinking Style amongU of L Students • episodic, time specific • socially significant and culturally appropriate mode of behavior • supported within an environment • represents ecological relationships • ranges in quantity consumed

29. Other “Styles” of Alcohol Use • non-use • as food/as part of a meal • more frequent social use • non-social use: drinking alone

30. Drinking is Social • 74% “never” drink alone • 19% “rarely” • 7% “sometimes” “often” “always” • “For our circle of friends that is the main way of socializing.” • “I truly think it’s an acceptance thing. The only way you can get attention or interaction is to drink.”

31. “Styles” of Alcohol Use as Social Practice • A “style” of alcohol use is not: • a psychological manifestation of the individual nor only determined by environment • “Style” as social practice • “expressive equipment” or “social capital” • available to students for the production of subjectivity (self & identity) in a university community • “universe of stylistic possibilities” • represents differing ways to “craft self” and be a “person” in a student milieu • Alcohol use is a social and cultural practice some find useful in the context of a set of ongoing social relations

32. The “Problem” of “Binge Drinking” • research and the reification of “binge drinking” • public health emphasis on collegiate drinking as a social problem • harm reduction interventions

33. The “Problem” of “Binge Drinking” • Reduction of “stylistic possibilities” • All “drinking” in terms of quantity & tempo • Research emphasizes drinking in terms of quantity & tempo • Students emphasize drinking in terms of quantity & tempo • Harm reduction also emphasizes drinking in terms of quantity & tempo

34. Student Universe of Stylistic Possibilities • Range defined in terms of quantity & tempo • Useful & meaningful in the distinction of social groups • Useful & meaningful in the distinction of kinds of persons • Useful & meaningful towards defining student expectations of social behavior

35. Recommendations? • Document the range of “styles” of alcohol use & non-use • Awareness of the reification of tempo & quantity in the search for “problem” drinking • Awareness of the reification of tempo & quantity in Public Health • Continue to talk to ourselves about ourselves as a participatory community