 During the 1980's, the connection between
collegiate athletic participation and substance
use gained increasing attention throughout the
United States
 Media outlets began reporting incidents of
alcohol and other drug problems among
student-athletes
 College athletes are heavy consumers of
alcohol compared to non-athlete college
students
What do you think is the average consumption
of beer in a week for a students athlete?
Student?
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 A recent NCAA report revealed the number of college athletes
engaging in binge drinking has increased dramatically over that past
five years
 Studies show athletes misuse alcohol more and experience higher
rates of alcohol-related consequences when compared to non-athletes
 The most significant social ecological predictors of alcohol
consumption were personal beliefs, perceptions of teammates use, and
perceptions of overall campus use.
 The guidelines suggest that a heavy drinker is a male who reports
drinking more than 14 per week or 4 drinks per occasion; or a female
who reports drinking more than 7 drinks per week or more than 3
drinks per occasion.
Alcohol rules of coaches and athletic departments had no impact on
athletes' alcohol behavior
 An anonymous survey was administered to 211 studentathletes at a mid-size, southeastern university.
 Results indicated substantial drinking behavior among this
group. The studies revealed that student-athletes who were
non-leaders and engaged in heavy, intermittent drinking
perceived greater risks associated with alcohol consumption
 Greater leniency from coaches
Greater levels of alcohol use among peers.
What are the issues that lead athletes to drink
excessively?
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Peer Pressure
Celebrate
Have a good time with teammates or friends
Make one feel good
Pressure of Athletics
Structure of season allows opportunity to party
Balance athletic expectations with academic demands
Balance their social lives and maintain condition
“Social Norm Theory”
- assumption of peer influences
- false perceptions
- natural reaction to fit in
Evaluations on alcohol use, binge drinking, and substance abuse
related consequences between non-athletes and athletes show
alarming results.
Anger was discovered to be an important difference among
athletes who use alcohol and athletes who do not.
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A correlation was noticed between the attitudes of athletes
Male and female athletes:
-consumed significantly more alcohol per week
-engaged in binge drinking more often
-suffered more adverse consequences from their drug problems.
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Greater sensation seeking was more highly associated with frequency of
heavy drinking episodes in the student-athlete sample compared to the nonathlete sample.
Possibly from reasons such as:
 Athletes put more importance on socializing and parties.
 They tend to have large groups of friends, possible bad influences in the
large group of friends.
 Most athletes tend to have 5 or more close friends, they often get confused
on what decisions should be made because of the different opinions by
their friends.
 Most athletes spend a great amount of time socializing with fellow
students.
 Thus, they tend to hear about more parties.
 They are more likely to get invited to parties because of their athlete status.
Why alcohol is especially bad for athletes:
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Deprives your body of HGH
Triggers the production of a substance in your liver
that is directly toxic to testosterone.
It can disrupt the water balance in muscle cells,
altering their ability to produce ATP
Alcohol also negatively affects:
-endurance
- metabolism
- muscle growth
- nutrition
- overall performance
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This chart shows the difference between a student-athlete, and
a non-athlete
Shows the relationship of coping motivations for drinking to drinking-related negative
consequences
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The DMM is made up of the four main
reasons for consuming alcohol: Coping, Mood
Enhancement, Conformity, and Social
Motives.
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Per the Core Institute survey, 78 percent of
college athletes cited using alcohol on at least
one instance in the past 30 days.
In the past year, 88 percent of student athletes
admitted to using alcohol.
57 percent of men and 48 percent of female
college athletes are binge drinkers and undergo a
larger number of alcohol-related issues than
other students.
Men on intercollegiate sports teams consume 10
alcoholic drinks a week, or 52 percent more than
non-athletes, who average six drinks a week.
- with social norm education, students
might actually change their drinking
practices.
A social-norm education program targeted Division III
athletes in a NY state college.
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This program contributed to a 30% drop in both excessive alcohol
consumption and the negative consequences of drinking
Among student-athletes with the highest exposure to the program,
personal alcohol use dropped by 50%
Given these results, this change can have a positive impact on schools,
campus’ and potentially our entire sports society.
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This study examines heavy episodic alcohol
consumption and associated harms in
collegiate athletes in the United States. The
factors which may promote or deter such use
are explored.
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Now knowing the reasons why most student
athletes and even non-athlete students drink
preventative measure could be altered to
increase the rate of effectiveness.
There are already attempts to prevent college
athletes and non-athletes from drinking, but
just because they exist and are tried does not
mean they have been effective.
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Athletes are a high-risk group for binge
drinking and alcohol-related harms. Although
special educational programs have targeted
this group they have not sufficiently impacted
the problem.
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Future prevention efforts targeted for athletes
should address the unique social and
environmental influences on athletes.
Programs should also take advantage of
motives of athletes for self-limiting alcohol
intake.
Colleges, athletic departments, coaches, and
sports medicine professionals are urged to
act to help reduce athletes risk of alcoholrelated harms.