The association between
educational achievement and
alcohol use in university students:
Findings from the United Kingdom
Walid El Ansaria, Christiane Stockb
aUniversity of Gloucestershire
bUniversity of Southern Denmark
Unit for Health Promotion Research
Background
• The relationship between problematic alcohol
consumption and academic performance is a key
concern on university and college campuses.
• Alcohol consumption has been negatively associated
with academic performance.
• Only few studies have used objective measures of
academic performance.
• Few authors have analysed whether frequency of
drinking or amount of alcohol is more important in
predicting academic performance.
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Aims
• This study examined the associations between three
academic achievement variables and three alcohol
consumption variables (frequency of alcohol
consumption, heavy episodic drinking, and problem
drinking).
 Which of the measures of alcohol consumption is most
influential?
 Which academic outcome is mostly affected by alcohol
drinking?
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Methods
Data collection
 Cross-sectional study among 380 university students at the
University of Gloucestershire who completed a general health
questionnaire. Their module grades were retrieved from the
university computer systems
Alcohol drinking
 Frequency of alcohol consumption in the past three months
 Heavy episodic drinking (had ≥ 5 drinks in a row) in the past 30 days
 Problem drinking (CAGE score)
Educational achievement
 Students’ reflection on their academic achievement (importance of
achieving good grades)
 Students’ subjective comparative appraisal of their overall academic
attainment (academic performance in comparison with their peers)
 Actual module mark
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Frequency of alcohol consumption
50
40
30
20
P=0.04
10
Females
Males
0
Never
Less
than
once a
week
Once a
week
Several
times a
week
All
Every
day
Several
times a
day
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Had five or more drinks in a row last month
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
p<0.001
None
Females
Males
1 time
2 times
3-5
times
All
6-9
times
10 or
more
times
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Problem drinking (positive answers in CAGE)
30
25
20
15
P=0.04
10
Females
5
Males
0
1 positive
answer
2 positive
answers
All
3 positive
answers
4 positive
answers
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Characteristics of educational achievement
Variable
Whole
Male
Female
sample
(N= 195) (N= 185)
(N= 380)
Importance of having good grades at University
Very important
64.1
61.7
66.7
Somewhat important
34.3
36.3
32.2
Not very important
1.3
1.6
1.1
Not at all important
0.3
0.5
0.0
Rating of one’s academic performance in comparison with
fellow students
Much better
2.1
3.1
1.1
Better
21.3
22.3
20.2
The same
62.5
62.2
62.8
Worse
13.8
12.4
15.3
Much worse
0.3
0
0.5
University Computerised Student Records
Module Mark- actual
54.56
53.90
55.68
achieved % grade: Mean
(12.9)
(12.1)
(12.4)
(SD)
P
Value
N.S.
N.S.
N.S.
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Regression models for three academic achievement indicators
on frequency of alcohol consumption* as dependent variable
Variable
Age
Male gender
Importance of
good grades
Performance
relative to peers
Module marka
Adjusted R2 of
the model
Model 1
Stand. β
P
Value
Model 2
Stand. β
P
Value
Model 3
Stand. β
P
Value
-0.063
0.160
0.238
0.003
-0.047
0.158
0.376
0.003
0.022
0.149
.692
.008
-0.105
0.045
―
―
―
―
―
―
0.063
0.229
―
―
―
―
―
―
-0.015
0.787
0.04
0.001
0.03
0.004
0.01
0.066
*Frequency of alcohol consumption = from never to several times a day within the last three months
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Regression models for three academic achievement indicators
on heavy episodic drinking* as dependent variable
Variable
Model 1
Stand.
P
β
Value
Model 2
Stand.
P
β
Value
Age
-0.252
<0.001
-0.235
<0.001
Male gender
0.210
<0.001
0.226
<0.001
-0.142
0.004
―
―
―
―
0.14
Importance of
good grades
Performance
relative to
peers
Module marka
Adjusted R2 of
the model
Model 3
Stand.
P
β
Value
-0.181
0.001
0.230
<0.00
1
―
―
―
-0.105
0.033
―
―
―
―
―
-0.079
<0.001
0.13
<0.001
0.11
0.132
<0.00
1
*Heavy episodic drinking: frequency of having ≥5 drinks on one occasion
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Regression models for three academic achievement indicators
on problem drinking* as dependent variable
Variable
Model 1
Stand. β
P
Value
Model 2
Stand. β
P
Value
Model 3
Stand. β
P
Value
Age
-0.078
0.146
-0.063
0.242
-0.048
0.400
Male gender
0.147
0.006
0.159
0.003
0.138
0.014
Importance of good
grades
-0.104
0.047
―
―
―
―
Performance
relative to peers
―
―
-0.036
0.494
―
―
Module marka
―
―
―
―
-0.054
0.327
0.04
0.001
0.03
0.006
0.02
0.038
Adjusted R2 of the
model
* Problem drinking: number of positive answers in CAGE
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Results
 We found relatively strong negative associations
between heavy episodic drinking and subjective
measures of academic achievement (importance of good
grades, academic performance relative to peers).
 The other two measures of alcohol drinking (frequency
of alcohol consumption and problem drinking) showed
fewer associations with academic outcomes than heavy
episodic drinking.
 While alcohol drinking was related to impairments in
subjectively reported academic achievement, we failed
to find associations with objectively measured module
marks.
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Limitations
• Sample size
• Module mark may not reflect average grades
• Selection bias (no data on students not attending
classes)
• Under-reporting of drinking, while over-reporting of
academic performance
• No causal relationships
• Many other (unmeasured) factors might interfere
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Other factors
Academic
achievement at
high school
Early alcohol
use
Academic
achievement
at university
Heavy
alcohol use
Other impairments
•Sleep
•Socio-emotional
problems
•Etc.
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Conclusions
• Alcohol misuse, especially heavy episodic drinking is
very likely to have negative consequences on academic
performance.
• Alcohol policies on campus and educational and
normative campaigns for students are highly relevant.
• Future research should include prospective designs as
well as objective and subjective measures for academic
performance.