Alcohol consumption in British
student sports teams
Mattia Rossi
University of Florence, Italy
Robert C. Dempsey & John McAlaney
University of Bradford, UK
3rd European Symposium on Substance Use in University Students
7th June 2012, University of Bradford
Background
• Social processes can have a significant impact on alcohol
consumption amongst university students
• Misperceptions that student peers drink heavy amounts
of alcohol can increase personal alcohol consumption in
university student groups (e.g., Neighbors et al., 2006)
• Behaviour change interventions which address these
social norms misperceptions use appear to be effective
in reducing alcohol consumption (Moreira, Smith &
Foxcroft, 2009)
Background
• University student athletes are a high-risk group for
heavy alcohol consumption (Turrisi et al., 2007; Yusko et
al., 2008)
• Student sports teams may form particularly close social
groups whose members are heavily influenced by each
other
• Particularly for students with strong athletic identities
(Grossbard et al., 2009)
• However, research into social norms and alcohol
consumption in student athletes has primarily been
limited to the USA
Current Study’s Objectives
• To investigate social norm perceptions of alcohol use and
the role of alcohol consumption in sports team identity
and team formation amongst British student athletes
• What role does alcohol play in the formation of a team
identity and the social processes amongst team
members in UK students?
• Several cultural and legislative differences between the
US and UK in relation to alcohol availability and usage.
Methodology
Two phase study:
Phase 1
Quantitative self-report survey of
student athletes’ alcohol use and
their perceptions of alcohol use
behaviours amongst students
Phase 2
Thematic analysis of a series of
focus groups exploring the role
of alcohol in student sport
teams’ social functioning
Phase 1
• 61 student athletes surveyed on alcohol use
Number of drinks on a
night out
Frequency of drinking
You
6.11
Twice a week
Your teammates
6.84
Twice a week
Other students
7.03
Twice a week
• Student athletes perceived their teammates to drink more
frequently than themselves and other students to drink
more frequently and more heavily on a night out than
themselves and their teammates
• However student athletes do not perceive their teammates
to have more drinks on a night out than themselves
Phase 2 – Thematic Analysis Results
Team Identity
Team
Reputation
Team
Membership
Individual
Decision
Making
Personal
Feelings
Inter-team
differences
Social
Facilitation
Drinking
Environment
Health
Focus
Drinking
Restrictions
Consequences
Drinking
Processes
Drinking
Style
Theme 1 – Team Identity
• Team Reputation - the history and reputation of the team
in terms of their alcohol consumption
“they’re [the rugby team] the ones that are
renowned for being the big drinkers, so
obviously they’ve got to keep up that kind of
name”
Theme 1 – Team Identity
• Inter-team differences – sport/team characteristics which
distinguishes between different sports teams
o Casual versus competitive nature of the sport
“… in badminton you don't have to have…like as in a
group. Like you don't have to join the team with the
paperwork and stuff ….you just need to show up”
o Norms of the sport
“I know some guys in the cycling team who are
really focused on getting very fit and they don't drink
or smoke or at least they try do avoid it”
Theme 1 – Team Identity
• Team Membership – social factors which influence the
team’s functioning and which signify membership to the team
o Initiation to the team on socials through drinking
games:
“it seems that they [the football team] have a pretty tough
initiation … and there's a lot of peer pressure that goes along
with it”
“I’ve heard that sometimes you have to go and get five bras
from five difficult girls and bring them back to your
[captain/president]”
Theme 2 – Drinking Processes
• Drinking style
“and then you look at the hockey guys and some of them are tiny … really
like thin… yet they're drinking like champions, they're drinking so much
for their size and they have to do a yard … it’s 4 pints in this huge… It's
literally like four foot high and they’ve got to down it in a special
technique…”
• Drinking environment – characteristics of the university, local
city and local outlets serving alcohol which facilitate heavy consumption
“I would say it's not the size of the city but the size of the University,
because take for example … Warwick. Well, the whole University campus
it's a small town on its’ own, there's nothing around it for three or four
miles, but the University itself is very big and they have loads of
students and therefore... the whole night life and everything is just
centered inside that campus”
Theme 2 – Drinking Processes
• Social Facilitation – external social factors which promote
alcohol consumption in the team (e.g., local pub sponsorship)
“They [the pub] want to sell the alcohol so they want to sell
more and more they don't care if it's a team… they want
more people to come”
• Consequences – student athletes’ knowledge of the effects
of alcohol consumption upon team membership
“I think it really alienates some kids…especially the initiation
stuff, … you’re part of the team only if you do the initiation,
then what if … you don’t drink and then you’re left out of
that whole club.”
Theme 3 – Individual Decision Making
• Personal Feelings – individual differences, beliefs and
feelings associated with alcohol consumption
– E.g., mood and team performance-related drinking:
“they probably get equally drunk if you lose or win, but
obviously if you win you its much more …much more
happy and they get drunk quicker”
• Health Focus – healthy attitudes and behaviours which may
inhibit excessive drinking
“I think really healthy people they don't ever go to the
socials…”
“I choose not to get drunk”
Theme 3 – Individual Decision Making
• Drinking Restrictions – other factors limiting or
prohibiting alcohol consumption
– Economic Factors
“Bradford is quite cheap as a city, so you tend to drink
more because you know it’s cheaper drinks”
“I don't think that price keeps people from drinking.”
“one of the reasons why some of us are here in Bradford
it's because the city is cheap and there fore it
automatically goes to the assumption that we don't have
much money for drinking. Which would be my case”
Theme 3 – Individual Decision Making
• Drinking Restrictions – other factors limiting or
prohibiting alcohol consumption
– Religious Beliefs
“[some students] they don't drink as much alcohol because
maybe they're quite strict [to] their faith”
“[we are] not allowed drink alcohol in our religion… Yeah
that's why I tend to not drink… ”
Discussion
• In keeping with previous research students were
found to perceive their peers to drink more heavily
and frequently than themselves
• However they did not appear to think that student
sports teams drank more alcohol than other
students
• Alcohol is cited as being an important part of team
membership and especially socialisation
• However this appears to be a more complex process,
as students are also accepting of those who do not
drink, e.g. for religious reasons
Discussion
• Economic factors were also cited as a limiting factor on
alcohol consumption
• Despite these protective factors alcohol use still seen to
be a widespread and common part of university life
• However there was some contradiction evident in that
students simultaneously described Bradford as a unique
university setting whilst also appearing to think that
alcohol consumption on campus is typical for a UK
university and wider British culture
• Students commented that they thought alcohol played a
different role in UK teams as opposed to USA ones
References
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identity, descriptive norms, and drinking among athletes transitioning to college. Addictive Behaviors,
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Moreira, M. T., Smith, L. A., & Foxcroft, D. (2009). Social norms interventions to reduce alcohol misuse in
university or college students. Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews, 8(3):CD006748.
Neighbors, C., Dillard, A. J., Lewis, M. A., Bergstrom, R. L., & Neil, T. A. (2006). Normative misperceptions and
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