Alcohol industry sponsorship and hazardous drinking in UK university students who play sport

Alcohol industry-sponsored music festivals, alcohol marketing and drinking practices among young Nigerians: Implications for policy

INTRODUCTION

The global alcohol industry sponsors social/music events targeting young people; however, existing literature focuses on Westernised contexts. Given the decline in young people's drinking in many Western countries, it appears that multinational alcohol companies are importing the strategies they have used in high-income countries to the Global South countries like Nigeria to recoup profits. This study aims to examine the Guinness Show- a free one-month annual music festival, alcohol marketing at the festival and the extent to which the event encourages diverse drinking practices among its attendees.

METHODS

We observed the music festival before collecting data through 53 interviews and 3 focus groups (N = 26). Data were analysed to generate themes with the aid of NVivo 12 software.

FINDINGS

Over 6000 participants attend the Guinness Show daily, and participants gave detailed descriptions of the music festival, alcohol marketing activities that occur in it and the drinking practices of attendees, indicating that they were highly knowledgeable of the event. The Guinness Show attracts famous music artistes and other entertainers. Therefore, young people attend to see them perform free of charge. However, diverse alcohol promotions (e.g., quantity deals, low prices, giveaways) that happen daily, the strategic use of young women as 'beer promoters', and the pleasure the event induces by fusing music/entertainment into alcogenic environments, encourage drinking and drunkenness. All the attendees drank alcohol, and some engaged in impulse buying, while many consumed excessively due to promotions (e.g., buy-two-get-one free), which facilitated intoxication and the loss of control.

CONCLUSIONS

Guinness Nigeria organises the event for strategic brand communication, generating brand capital, and encouraging alcohol purchases and consumption among young people. Policymakers should reconsider self-regulation and implement national alcohol control policies and other public health interventions to restrain the alcohol industry from sponsoring such events.

Assessment of the Prevalence of Alcoholic Beverage Consumption and Knowledge of the Impact of Alcohol on Health in a Group of Polish Young Adults Aged 18-35: A Cross-Sectional Study

Alcoholic beverages are widely consumed worldwide, especially by young adults. Their excessive consumption is associated with numerous health, social and financial damages. The level of knowledge of young adults about the health effects of consuming alcoholic beverages is low, and research in this area is conducted on small, unrepresentative groups. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence of alcoholic beverage consumption and the level of knowledge about the impact of ethyl alcohol on health in a group of people aged 18−35. The survey results indicate that the majority of respondents regularly consume alcoholic beverages (94.6%), and they are at a low risk of excessive consumption (p < 0.0001). The most frequently chosen alcoholic beverage in the studied group was beer, and the least chosen one was vodka. The main motive for reaching for alcoholic beverages was the desire to improve mood. Respondents did not indicate significant changes in alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, but participants in the high-risk group more often indicated an increase in alcohol consumption (p = 0.0025). The analysis of the level of knowledge showed that the participants in the study had an average or low level of knowledge about the effects of ethanol on health, with no significant relationships between the study groups. The obtained results indicate a strong need for the continuous education of young people on the effects of the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages on the body, with particular emphasis on the consequences of using alcohol as a mood-enhancing agent.

Influences of club connectedness among young adults in Western Australian community-based sports clubs

BACKGROUND

Along with physical benefits, community-based sport provides opportunities to enhance connectedness, an important protective factor of social and emotional health. However, young Australians participating in sport have been found to drink alcohol at higher levels than their non-sporting peers, and many clubs serve unhealthy food and beverages. This study explored the association between the dependent variable, level of alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C) and connectedness to club and other health behaviours among young people aged 18-30 years who play club sport in Western Australia.

METHODS

An online cross sectional survey measured levels of alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C), alcohol-related harm, connectedness (including volunteering and team cohesion), mental wellbeing, healthy food options and club sponsorship among young adults aged 18-30 years involved in sports clubs in Western Australia (n = 242). Relationships and association between the dependent variable (AUDIT-C) and independent variables were assessed.

RESULTS

Male sportspeople were more likely to drink alcohol at high-risk levels than females (p < .001), and respondents belonging to a club that received alcohol-related sponsorship were more likely to drink at high-risk levels (p = .019). Females were significantly more likely to want healthy food and beverage options provided at their clubs (p = 0.011). When all factors were considered team cohesion (p = 0.02), alcohol expectations (p = < .001), occurrences of experienced alcohol-related harm (p = <.001) and length of club membership (p = 0.18) were significant predictors of high-risk AUDIT-C (R2 = .34, adjusted R2 = .33, F (4, 156) = 20.43, p = <.001). High-risk AUDIT-C and club connectedness predicted strong team cohesion (R2 = .39, adjusted R2 = .39, F (2, 166) = 53.74, p = <.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from this study may inform policy and practice to enhance healthy behaviours among young adults participating in community sports clubs in Australia and other countries.

Alcohol Marketing and Adolescent and Young Adult Alcohol Use Behaviors: A Systematic Review of Cross-Sectional Studies

OBJECTIVE

This article provides a systematic review of cross-sectional research examining associations between exposure to alcohol marketing and alcohol use behaviors among adolescents and young adults.

METHOD

Literature searches of eight electronic databases were carried out in February 2017. Searches were not limited by date, language, country, or peer-review status. After abstract and full-text screening for eligibility and study quality, 38 studies that examined the relationship between alcohol marketing and alcohol use behaviors were selected for inclusion.

RESULTS

Across alcohol use outcomes, various types of marketing exposure, and different media sources, our findings suggest that cross-sectional evidence indicating a positive relationship between alcohol marketing exposure and alcohol use behaviors among adolescents and young adults was greater than negative or null evidence. In other words, cross-sectional evidence supported that alcohol marketing exposure was associated with young peoples' alcohol use behaviors. In general, relationships for alcohol promotion (e.g., alcohol-sponsored events) and owning alcohol-related merchandise exposures were more consistently positive than for other advertising exposures. These positive associations were observed across the past four decades, in countries across continents, and with small and large samples.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite issues of measurement and construct clarity within this body of literature, this review suggests that exposure to alcohol industry marketing may be important for understanding and reducing young peoples' alcohol use behavior. Future policies aimed at regulating alcohol marketing to a greater extent may have important short- and long-term public health implications for reducing underage or problematic alcohol use among youth.

Alcohol consumption, masculinity, and alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour in sportspeople

OBJECTIVES

There is no research examining alcohol-related aggression and anti-social behaviour in UK or European sportspeople (athletes), and no research has examined relationships between masculinity, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related aggression and antisocial behaviour in sportspeople (athletes). This study addresses this gap.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

METHODS

A sample (N=2048; women=892, 44%) of in season sportspeople enrolled at UK universities (response 83%), completed measures of masculinity, alcohol consumption, within-sport (on-field) violence, and having been the perpetrator and/or victim of alcohol-related violent/aggressive and antisocial behaviour (e.g., hit/assaulted, vandalism, sexual assault). Logistic regressions examined predictors of alcohol-related violence/aggression and anti-social behaviours.

RESULTS

Significant bivariate relationships between masculinity, within-sport violence, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related aggression and anti-social behaviour were found for both men and women (p's<.001). Logistic regression adjusting for all variables showed that higher levels of masculinity and alcohol consumption in men and women were related to an increased odds of having conducted an aggressive, violent and/or anti-social act in the past 12 months when intoxicated. Odds ratios were largest for relationships between masculinity, alcohol consumption, within-sport violence, and interpersonal violence/aggression (p's<.001). A similar pattern of results was found for having been the victim of aggression and anti-social behaviour.

CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol-related aggression and anti-social behaviour appear to be problematic in UK university sportspeople, and is related to masculinity and excessive drinking. Interventions that reduce excessive alcohol consumption, masculine norms and associated within-sport violence, could be effective in reducing alcohol-related aggression and antisocial behaviour in UK sportspeople.

European longitudinal study on the relationship between adolescents' alcohol marketing exposure and alcohol use

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

This is the first study to examine the effect of alcohol marketing exposure on adolescents' drinking in a cross-national context. The aim was to examine reciprocal processes between exposure to a wide range of alcohol marketing types and adolescent drinking, controlled for non-alcohol branded media exposure.

DESIGN

Prospective observational study (11-12- and 14-17-month intervals), using a three-wave autoregressive cross-lagged model.

SETTING

School-based sample in 181 state-funded schools in Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 9075 eligible respondents participated in the survey (mean age 14 years, 49.5% male.

MEASUREMENTS

Adolescents reported their frequency of past-month drinking and binge drinking. Alcohol marketing exposure was measured by a latent variable with 13 items measuring exposure to online alcohol marketing, televised alcohol advertising, alcohol sport sponsorship, music event/festival sponsorship, ownership alcohol-branded promotional items, reception of free samples and exposure to price offers. Confounders were age, gender, education, country, internet use, exposure to non-alcohol sponsored football championships and television programmes without alcohol commercials.

FINDINGS

The analyses showed one-directional long-term effects of alcohol marketing exposure on drinking (exposure T1 on drinking T2: β = 0.420 (0.058), P < 0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.324-0.515; exposure T2 on drinking T3: β = 0.200 (0.044), P < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.127-0.272; drinking T1 and drinking T2 on exposure: P > 0.05). Similar results were found in the binge drinking model (exposure T1 on binge T2: β = 0.409 (0.054), P < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.320-0.499; exposure T2 on binge T3: β = 0.168 (0.050), P = 0.001, 95% CI = 0.086-0.250; binge T1 and binge T2 on exposure: P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

There appears to be a one-way effect of alcohol marketing exposure on adolescents' alcohol use over time, which cannot be explained by either previous drinking or exposure to non-alcohol-branded marketing.

Association Between Alcohol Sports Sponsorship and Consumption: A Systematic Review

Aim

Concerns have been raised about the impact of alcohol sports sponsorship on harmful consumption, with some countries banning this practice or considering a ban. We review evidence on the relationship between exposure to alcohol sports sponsorship and alcohol consumption.

Methods

Search of electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and International Alcohol Information Database) supplemented by hand searches of references and conference proceedings to locate studies providing data on the impact of exposure to alcohol sports sponsorship and outcomes relating to alcohol consumption.

Results

Seven studies met inclusion criteria, presenting data on 12,760 participants from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Poland. All studies report positive associations between exposure to alcohol sports sponsorship and self-reported alcohol consumption, but the statistical significance of results varies. Two studies found indirect exposure to alcohol sports sponsorship was associated with increased levels of drinking amongst schoolchildren, and five studies found a positive association between direct alcohol sports sponsorship and hazardous drinking amongst adult sportspeople.

Conclusion

These findings corroborate the results of previous systematic reviews that reported a positive association between exposure to alcohol marketing and alcohol consumption. The relationship between alcohol sports sponsorship and increased drinking amongst schoolchildren will concern policymakers. Further research into the effectiveness of restrictions on alcohol sports sponsorship in reducing harmful drinking is required.

Alcohol consumption among university students in Ireland and the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2014: a systematic review

Background

Alcohol is a leading cause of global suffering. Europe reports the uppermost volume of alcohol consumption in the world, with Ireland and the United Kingdom reporting the highest levels of binge drinking and drunkenness. Levels of consumption are elevated among university students. Thus, this literature review aims to summarise the current research on alcohol consumption among university students in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Methods

MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE and PsychInfo were systematically searched for literature from January 2002 until December 2014. Each database was searched using the following search pillars: alcohol, university student, Ireland or the United Kingdom and prevalence studies.

Results

Two thousand one hundred twenty eight articles were retrieved from electronic database searching. These were title searched for relevance. 113 full texts were retrieved and assessed for eligibility. Of these, 29 articles were deemed to meet inclusion criteria for the review. Almost two thirds of students reported a hazardous alcohol consumption score on the AUDIT scale. Over 20 % reported alcohol problems over their lifetime using CAGE while over 20 % exceed sensible limits each week. Noteworthy is the narrowing of the gender gap throughout the past decade.

Conclusion

This is the first review to investigate consumption patterns of university students in Ireland and the United Kingdom. A range of sampling strategies and screening tools are employed in alcohol research which preclude comparability. The current review provides an overview of consumption patterns to guide policy development.

Alcohol Drinking Among Kosovar Adolescents: An Examination of Gender-Specific Sociodemographic, Sport, and Familial Factors Associated With Harmful Drinking

BACKGROUND

Adolescent alcohol consumption is a significant public-health problem, although there is a lack of studies investigating this issue in Kosovo.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this investigation was to examine the prevalence of alcohol drinking, and the factors associated with harmful drinking (HD) in Kosovar 17-18 years old adolescents.

METHODS

The sample comprised 636 girls and 366 boys (17-18 years old) from Pristina, Kosovo. The independent variables included sociodemographic factors, variables examining familial-monitoring and conflict (familial-variables), and sport-factors. Alcohol-drinking (dependent variable) was measured by means of the alcohol use disorders identification test scale.

RESULTS

39% of the girls and 43% of the boys reported HD (odds ratio (OR) = 1.17; 95% confidence interval = 0.90-1.55). A higher likelihood of HD is found for those girls whose mothers have an advanced education (OR = 1.59), who reported a higher level of conflict with their parents (OR = 1.95), whose parents are frequently absent from home (OR = 1.93), and who reported lower religiosity (OR = 0.90). HD is more frequent among boys who have participated longer in sports (OR = 1.49), whose fathers have an advanced education (OR = 1.80), and who reported higher level of familial conflict (OR = 2.87).

CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE

The prevalence of HD is high. Knowing the problems related to alcohol drinking in girls (violence, trafficking, etc.), public-health authorities should urgently develop a specific preventive programme (SPP) to combat the misuse of alcohol. In preparing SPP, special attention should be paid to the varying influences of the studied factors on HD in boys and girls.

Alcohol Advertising in Sport and Non-Sport TV in Australia, during Children's Viewing Times

Estimate the amount of alcohol advertising in sport vs. non-sport programming in Australian free-to-air TV and identify children's viewing audience composition at different times of the day. Alcohol advertising and TV viewing audience data were purchased for free-to-air sport and non-sport TV in Australia for 2012. We counted alcohol advertisements in sport and non-sport TV in daytime (6 am-8.29 pm) and evening periods (8.30 pm-11.59 pm) and estimated viewing audiences for children and young adults (0-4 years, 5-13 years, 14-17 years, 18-29 years). During the daytime, most of the alcohol advertising (87%) was on sport TV. In the evening, most alcohol advertising (86%) was in non-sport TV. There was little difference in the mean number of children (0-17 years) viewing TV in the evening (N = 273,989), compared with the daytime (N = 235,233). In programs containing alcohol advertising, sport TV had a greater mean number of alcohol adverts per hour (mean 1.74, SD = 1.1) than non-sport TV (mean 1.35, SD = .94). Alcohol advertising during the daytime, when large numbers of children are watching TV, is predominantly in free-to-air sport TV. By permitting day-time advertising in sport programs and in any programs from 8.30 pm when many children are still watching TV, current regulations are not protecting children from exposure to alcohol advertising.