The Impact Of Alcohol Use On The College Athlete

The Impact of Alcohol Use on the College Athlete

Kirsten L. TautfestArgosy University Online

PSY 492 XC Advanced General PsychologyDecember 15, 2010

Introduction• Alcohol use among college

athletes has been a growing problem

• Reports in the media include– Bar fights– Drunk driving– Under-aged drinking/fake

ID’s.

Introduction - Influences• Alcoholic beverage companies spend millions

advertising during college sporting events. – This adds to the complication when dealing with

trying to get college athletes to refrain from drinking or at least drink in moderation.

• Team age spread from 18 to 24 compound further when teams get together outside of the watchful eyes of the coaches and trainers.

• Many college athletes are also members of Greek organizations, which are also known for higher rates of alcohol consumption (Turrisi, et al, 2006). Μπίρα

Scope• Athletic participation used to be a protective element against

alcohol use. – A 1950’s survey found a majority of athletes do not drink, nor do they

binge drink, either alone or with the team (Turrisi, et al, 2007)

• What drives the urge to drink in the adult athlete when they know the risks to their career, legally and physically?

• How is social pressure from teammates and fans involved in an individual’s athlete’s decision to drink alcohol responsibly or, even worse, irresponsibly?

• How does an individual’s athlete’s base personality play into how the alcohol and peer pressure are handled?

• Does the drinking of alcohol mask another underlying psychological disorder like depression, or social affective disorder?

Motivations for consuming alcohol

• Stress• Peer pressure• “Be part of the team” (Wechsler & Wuethrich, 2002).

• Social reasons– Primarily reported by males (Turrisi, et al, 2006).

Peer and social pressure

• Male student-athletes have been found to engage in binge drinking, defined as consuming 4 to 5 or more alcoholic drinks in one drinking episode, more often than the general student population (Yusko, et al, 2008(b)) – This may be due to lack of opportunity, due to heavier schedule

demands, especially when that student’s sport is in their competitive season (Yusko, et al, 2008 (a); Yusko, et al, 2008(b)).

• Jock identity correlates with binge drinking (Miller, et al, 2006). – If an athlete drank alcohol in high school with their teammates as a

bonding ritual (Miller, et al, 2006), it will carry over to alcohol use in college, whether or not the student is playing varsity college athletics (Martin, 1998).

Peer and social pressure (cont’d)

• Male athletes look more toward norms among their fellow teammates, while female athletes can be influences by non-athlete student peers more easily (Yusko, et al, 2008(b)).

• Student athletes, especially those in those in certain team sports, will report higher levels of drinking. – Fear of disapproval (Yusko, et al, 2008(a))– Peer influence is quite heavy among athletic teams

(Grossbard, et al, 2009). • High athletic identity corresponds to greater influence

of peers (Grossbard, et al, 2009).

Peer and social pressure (cont’d)• Martin looked at women’s basketball, softball and volleyball and alcohol use

(Martin, 1998). – The frequency of binge drinking (4 or more drinks per episode) was significantly

higher among the softball players both in-season and out-of-season (Martin, 1998). – The aerobic demands of one sport over another, such as with basketball or track,

may contribute to this difference (Martin, 1998). • Other aerobically demanding sports have differing results

– , but they report high levels of drinking, 93.4% for women’s lacrosse and 95.6% for men’s hockey (Turrisi, et al, 2006).

– The ethnic makeup and cultural background of the student-athlete may have an influence. Women’s basketball players studied by Martin were largely from African-American, whereas lacrosse, hockey and softball tend to be Caucasian (Martin, 1998; Turrisi, et al, 2006).

• Nutritional counseling may have some influence on the female athlete, due to their traditional paying close attention to their own body’s image (Gutgesell, Moreau, & Thompson, 2003).

Underlying personality

• An introvert may drink more in social situations to combat anxiety. – Team activities are social events. – An athlete may consume more when they also suffer from

social anxiety disorder or have high attachment avoidance (Doumas, Turrisi, & Wright, 2006).

• As noted earlier, social pressure including a sense of belonging to a team and participating in team activities off the playing surface do affect the athlete’s alcohol consumption levels (Yusko, et al, 2008(a)).

Underlying personality (cont’d)

• While athletic participation and physical activity is a method of stress reduction, athletes still find coping as a reason to drink (Turrisi, et al, 2006). – Female athletes may not turn to drinking for a coping

mechanism (Gutgesell, Moreau, & Thompson, 2003). – Whether or not an individual drinks in order to cope

with stress may have more to do with family influence rather than peer influence. • Students, regardless of athletic affiliation, were more likely

to abstain if their parents also abstained (Huang, et al, 2008).

Underlying Personality – Risk Takers

• A risk taker is more likely to engage in alcohol consumption (Doumas, Turrisi, & Wright, 2006; Yusko, et al, 2008(a)). – Athletic participation is associated with this type of

personality, especially competitive athletics (Miller, et al, 2006).

– Competitive season is associated with less alcohol consumption (Martin, 1998; Yusko, et al, 2008(b)).

– The alcohol’s feeling of pleasure in the beginning stages of consumption may serve as a replacement for the competitive high in the off-season.

Conclusion• Athletes do use alcohol, but it appears to be at the same rate as the general

college student population (Huang, et al, 2009). • Yet, alcohol continues to be a problem in the college athlete, especially with

under-age drinking. • If athletes consumed alcohol in high school, then they were more likely to

continue that behavior as they entered their college years. • Peer pressure and the use of alcohol as a social lubricant, for those who are

anxious around others, are two of the main reasons cited for drinking alcohol among athletes.

• A longitudinal study should be performed to prove or disprove these connections (Chen, Snyder, & Magner, 2010).

Under-aged Drinking

• Most of the studies used self-report surveys on 18-20 year olds.

• Underage drinking can lead to legal problems. – Those problems can result in suspension, probation, or being

completely kicked off the varsity team. – Being under the legal drinking age is not a strong deterrent.

• A stronger emphasis on alcohol’s impact on individual athletic performance, especially as it relates to the overall team performance may be a stronger psychological deterrent among the younger athletes.

Female Athletes

• Alcohol consumption can lead to making poor decisions.

• One wrong poor sexual decision at the right biological time can lead to pregnancy or, worse, disease. – Pregnancy can lead to being removed from athletic team

eligibility, for a year. – Hormonal birth control protects against pregnancy, but does

not protect against STI’s. – Female athletes have reported less sexual activity than

among their non-athlete female peers (Chen, Snyder, & Magner, 2010).

Recommendations• Athletic trainers and coaches need to address the use of

alcohol among their student athletes, especially those who are under the legal age. – NCAA currently requires an alcohol awareness education as part of a

student-athletics program (Umphress, 2010). – Alcohol education program should extend beyond just a one-time

seminar before the start of the competitive season. • The following should be emphasized:

– Legal issues • If a star player gets into trouble with the law for his drinking before a big

game, the rest of the team may be adversely affected.

– Health issues. • With the findings that alcohol use drops with a rise in religious

involvement (Huang, et al, 2009), utilizing groups such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes would be prudent.

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