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BackgroundUnhealthy alcohol use among university students is cause for concern, yet the level of help seeking behavior for alcohol use is low within the student population. Electronic brief interventions delivered via the Internet present an alternative to traditional treatments and could enable the delivery of interventions on a population basis. Further evidence is needed of the effectiveness of Internet-delivered interventions and of their generalizability across educational institutions. ObjectiveOur objective was to evaluate the effectiveness across 4 UK universities of a Web-based intervention for student alcohol use. MethodsIn total, 1112 participants took part. Participants were stratified by educational institution, gender, age group, year of study, and self-reported weekly consumption of alcohol and randomly assigned to either the control arm or to the immediate or delayed intervention arms. Intervention participants gained access to the intervention between weeks 1 to 7 or weeks 8 to 15, respectively. The intervention provided electronic personalized feedback and social norms information on drinking behavior accessed by logging on to a website. Participants registered interest by completing a brief screening questionnaire and were then asked to complete 4 further assessments across the 24 weeks of the study. Assessments included a retrospective weekly drinking diary, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and a readiness-to-change algorithm. The outcome variable was the number of units of alcohol consumed in the last week. The effect of treatment arm and time on units consumed last week and average units consumed per drinking occasion were investigated using repeated measures multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). In addition, the data were modeled using a longitudinal regression with time points clustered within students. ResultsMANCOVA revealed a main effect of time on units of alcohol consumed over the last week. A longitudinal regression model showed an effect of assessment across time predicting that participants who completed at least 2 assessments reduced their drinking. The model predicted an additional effect of being assigned to an intervention arm, an effect that increased across time. Regression analysis predicted that being male or being assigned to an intervention arm increased the odds of not completing all assessments. The number of units of alcohol consumed over the last week at registration, age, university educational institution, and readiness to change were not predictive of completion. ConclusionsDelivering an electronic personalized feedback intervention to students via the Internet can be effective in reducing weekly alcohol consumption. The effect does not appear to differ by educational institution. Our model suggested that monitoring alone is likely to reduce weekly consumption over 24 weeks but that consumption could be further reduced by providing access to a Web-based intervention. Further research is needed to understand the apparent therapeutic effect of monitoring and how this can be utilized to enhance the effectiveness of brief Web-based interventions.

Objective: To assess the extent to which university students are following UK Government advice regarding appropriate consumption of alcohol, and to investigate if students can be placed into distinct clusters based on their drinking behaviour. Design: A descriptive questionnaire study. Setting: One hundred and nineteen undergraduate students from Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. Method: An online survey, which included a diary to record daily alcohol consumption over the previous week, was completed during the winter of 2007/08. Cluster analysis was used to classify students into subgroups based on comparable alcohol-drinking characteristics. National recommended sensible drinking behaviour guidelines in terms of total weekly alcohol intake, maximum daily alcohol intake, number of alcohol-free days and estimated blood alcohol levels were used to compare drinking behaviour the previous week by age, sex and cluster group. Results: Consuming weekly alcohol levels considered hazardous was common (58%) with nearly 70% of responders binge drinking at least once over that period; most students (80%) were, however, following the government's recommendation for two consecutive alcohol-free days per week. No significant differences in drinking behaviour by sex were found, but binge drinkers tended to be younger. Four distinct alcohol-drinking behaviour clusters were identified based on alcohol consumption frequency and quantity. Only students in the non or light drinkers group all remained within national recommended guidelines for weekly intake and alcohol-free days. Conclusion: Students who consume alcohol are commonly drinking daily and weekly alcohol levels in excess of national sensible drinking guidelines; most students, however, abstain from alcohol on at least two consecutive days. The four distinct drinking clusters suggest that students would benefit from targeted interventions. In particular, personalization of interventions to reflect the distinct patterns of drinking behaviour could increase intervention effectiveness. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

Background: Alcohol consumption has posed well-documented problems for Scottish society in terms of morbidity, mortality, and wider societal costs. Objectives: To investigate the lived experiences and drinking behaviors of people with alcohol-related harm in Scotland against a backdrop of recent economic downturn, falling incomes, welfare reform, and changes to state benefits.Methods: As part of a larger Scottish study (2012–2014) of 639 individuals attending hospital or admitted, relating to an alcohol problem, 20 participants completed semistructured interviews about their drinking and purchasing habits that were subjected to thematic analysis.Conclusions: Key themes elucidated participants’ everyday drink-related behaviors within their local environment including drinking triggers, sourcing alcohol, resourcing alcohol purchase, and views relating to substitution. The majority of participants had experienced reduced income and adapted their alcohol-purchasing behaviors accordingly, including “trading down” to cheaper alcohol. A reduction in food purchasing and heating was a common outcome, as was falling into, or increasing current, debt. More attention should be paid to the prevalence and accessibility of alcohol within local communities. Ultimately, as long as there is highly visible and easily accessible cheap alcohol, heavy drinkers may struggle to undertake positive steps to reduce their damaging consumption levels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background/aims: An appreciation of the drinking patterns of population subgroups may usefully inform tailored interventions. For this purpose, research has highlighted a need to better describe the drinking behaviour of UK women. This study aims to characterise the purchasing and consumption behaviour of female heavy, harmed, drinkers in contact with Scottish health services in two cities and to explore the factors that influence the link to harm.Methods: Mixed methods study involving cross-sectional survey questionnaires and one-to-one interviews (5). The questionnaires documented (1) demographic data (including derived deprivation score), last week's (or 'typical' weekly) consumption (type, brand, volume, price, place of purchase), self-reported illnesses, and (2) Alcohol-Related Problem Questionnaire score. A total of 181 patients with serious health problems linked to alcohol were recruited within National Health Service (NHS) hospital clinics (in- and outpatient settings), in two Scottish cities during 2012.Results: Median consumption was 157.6 UK units for the recorded week, with almost exclusive purchase from 'off-sale' retail outlets. Preferred drinks were white cider, vodka and white wine. Increasing problems was positively associated with drinking more in the week, being younger and belonging to Glasgow.Conclusion: For Scottish women, the current definition of 'harmful' consumption likely captures a fourfold variation in alcohol intake, with gender differences less apparent. While current alcohol-related harm is positively associated with dose and being younger, there is clear evidence of an influence of the less tangible 'Glasgow effect'. Future harm concerns are warranted by data relating to pattern, alcohol dose and cigarette use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of a literature review of 18 studies investigating the drinking behaviour of undergraduate students at UK universities over a period of 25 years are presented. While comparison between studies is complicated by inconsistencies in the terms employed to describe drinking behaviour, it is concluded that significant numbers of both male and female students are reported to exceed sensible weekly consumption guidelines. Recorded levels of binge drinking among both female and male students are extremely variable between studies. Further research is needed to clarify this position. However, if the most recent research evidence is substantiated, female and male binge drinking levels may exceed those of their peers in the general population and their US counterparts. The reported ramifications of harmful drinking for the health and well-being of students are reviewed. A possible link between poor academic performance and alcohol consumption appears tenuous and merits further investigation. Evidence relevant to the view that the drinking behaviour of female students is changing is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies that have investigated the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the level of oestrogens and progesterone in both pre- and post-menopausal women are reviewed. It is concluded that several lines of evidence point to an alcohol-induced rise in natural or synthetic oestrogen levels in women. Proposed mechanisms include an increased rate of aromatization of testosterone or a decreased rate of oxidation of oestradiol to oestrone. Moderate alcohol consumption has also been linked to decreased progesterone levels in pre-menopausal women. The relevance of these findings to female health, fertility and the timing of the menopause is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This review presents evidence which implicates a role for menstrual cycle phase in the response of pre-menopausal women to moderate alcohol intake. It is concluded that the majority of published studies have suffered from poor methodological design and have employed inadequate means of cycle phase identification. Contradictory and ill-founded findings have been reported. The best evidence to date suggests that women eliminate alcohol more rapidly during the mid-luteal phase of the cycle. This finding needs to be substantiated by further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]