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Background: Harmful alcohol use has detrimental effects for higher education students. Students may fail to fulfil their role obligations on an educational and social level, and become involved in risky practices such as driving under the influence of alcohol, exposure to violence and relationship problems. Aims: The aim of this integrative review was to examine the risk factors for harmful alcohol use among students to illuminate factors potentially predictive of alcohol related harm Methods: An integrative literature search was conducted to search databases PubMed, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), EBSCOhost and Google Scholar. Articles were screened to include qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods research, using a population of higher education students, published between 2010 and 2021, written in English. Findings: Results from 35 publications were grouped according to themes to describe factors that increase the risk of alcohol-related harm among students. Physical, behavioral, psychological, and social risk factors were identified. Conclusions: Understanding predisposing factors may help to reduce the harm caused by alcohol use among students. Theoretical integration in the discussion highlight potential interventions to target physical, behavioral, psychological and social domains in specific student populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high prevalence rates of alcohol use among students in higher education is a public health concern. Most interventions aim to reduce alcohol-related harm, while few demand reduction strategies exist. The aim if this article was to review existing evidence in order to address alcohol abuse among students from a demand reduction approach. The authors searched databases PubMed, CINAHL, EBSCOhost, and Google Scholar. Articles were screened according to the following inclusion criteria: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research, using a population of higher education students, published between 2010 and 2020, written in English. This article presents the findings of 26 sources that addressed the demand for alcohol and demand reduction among students. Two themes emerged, namely, risk factors that increase the demand for alcohol use, and protective factors that reduce the demand for alcohol use among students. The subthemes revealed intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental risk and protective factors. Reducing the demand for alcohol use among students is a critical health priority that requires a combination of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]