Reasons for binge drinking among undergraduate students: An application of behavioural reasoning theory

Sipping a sustainable life: Exploring drivers and barriers in consumer attitudes toward non or low alcoholic spirits

Alcohol consumption continues to be prevalent and is on the rise in many countries, posing a grave risk for the health and wellbeing of millions and creating a strain on health services worldwide. A hopeful trend has emerged, however, as consumers' growing preference for healthier, sustainable lifestyles has led traditional alcoholic brands to innovate, launching reduced or non-alcoholic (NoLo) options. This aligns with the SDGs and is reflected in NoLo spirits representing four of Spain's top ten disruptive innovations of 2022. This paper uses a mixed methodology in a qualitative-quantitative sequential approach to gain insight into this phenomenon. The study involved 13 in-depth interviews with HoReCa (an acronym for Hotels, Restaurants, and Caterings) professionals and four focus groups among consumers. Second, behavioral reasoning theory (BRT) was used in a quantitative study aiming to explore motivations for and against consuming NoLo spirits. Data from a survey of 620 participants was conducted and analyzed using SEM-PLS to measure the antecedents of consumer's behavioral intention towards NoLo spirits and to gauge the potential for marketing opportunities. The research reveals that the purchase intention of NoLo spirits is strongly related to health consciousness, while enjoying the effects of alcohol for fun and entertainment, and the social pressure to drink hinders its consumption. In addition, it was found that "reasons for" are more substantial than "reasons against" the consumption of those beverages, differing significantly by age group. Results offer implications for theory and practice, including recommendations for practitioners and regulators willing to improve sustainability in the industry. Further, this paper helps augment the innovation adoption literature by using BRT in the paradoxical context of consumers' increasing alcohol abuse despite their professed attempts to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Comparing self-affirmation manipulations to reduce alcohol consumption in university students

Objective: Self-affirmation theory proposes that defensive processing prevents people from accepting health-risk messages, which may explain university students' dismissal of risk-information about binge drinking. SA-interventions may encourage non-biased processing of such information through impacting on interpersonal feelings and self-esteem. This study compared two self-affirmation manipulations on interpersonal feelings, self-esteem, message processing, message acceptance and subsequent alcohol consumption.Participants: UK university students (N = 454).Methods: Participants were randomly allocated to one of three conditions (Self-affirmation Implementation Intention, Kindness Questionnaire, Control) before reading health-risk information about binge drinking. This was followed by measures of interpersonal feelings, self-esteem, message processing, acceptance and behavioral intentions. Alcohol consumption was assessed one week later.Results: The self-affirmation manipulations had non-significant effects on all outcome variables.Conclusion: Consistent with previous research, the results indicate that self-affirmation interventions are not effective for reducing alcohol consumption in university students.

Understanding the factors affecting AI services adoption in hospitality: The role of behavioral reasons and emotional intelligence

This study explores the reasons (for and against) the adoption of AI in the hospitality industry among Pakistani customers. The hypothesis was tested using the sample obtained from Pakistani hospitality customers. The data is collected via an online survey and analyzed with the structural equation modeling and PROCESS macro. The study results indicate that cultural values positively associate reasons for, attitudes, and intentions to adopt. Moreover, the results prove that attitude mediates the relationship between reasons (for and against) and intention to adopt AI services in hospitality. Furthermore, the finding shows that customer emotional intelligence has no moderation effect on attitude and intention to adopt AI services. This study highlights technological complexity and safety concerns are the most significant barriers in the studied context. Further, addressing reason against (technological complexity and safety concerns) may allow policymakers to lessen the present customer attitude-intention gap by tackling the factors that cause customers to resist adopting AI services in hospitality. In this respect, marketers should develop a marketing campaign strategy focusing on the benefits of the adoption of AI services in comparison to employee service. This is the first empirical study examining cultural values, reasons (for and against) attitudes, their relationship with intentions, and moderating role of an attractive, important, yet ignored variable, customer emotional intelligence. This study confirms that the behavioral reasoning theory can better describe the customers' adoption behavior of AI services in the hospitality sector.

To drink or not to drink: When drinking intentions predict alcohol consumption and consequences

OBJECTIVES

We examined daily associations between drinking intentions and drinking behaviour and tested past drinking behaviour and current social environment as potential moderators of the daily intention-behaviour association. We expected both more frequent past drinking and being in a high drinking environment to weaken the intention-behaviour association. We also tested intentionality as a moderator of the association between alcohol consumption and next-day negative outcomes, expecting that less intentional alcohol consumption would be related to greater stress and regret.

DESIGN

We tested these hypotheses using two separate micro-longitudinal studies of college students (Ns = 1,641, 540).

METHODS

In two samples, participants completed bursts of data collection in which they indicated their previous alcohol consumption and then completed 30 days of diary surveys in which they reported their alcohol consumption and social environment the previous evening and their levels of stress, regret, and drinking intentions that day.

RESULT

Consistent with our predictions, drinking intentions more strongly predicted drinking behaviour among individuals with less frequent past drinking behaviour, and, in Sample 1, drinking intentions more strongly predicted drinking behaviour among individuals in a low drinking environment. Contrary to hypotheses, results indicated that individuals with low drinking intentions were more likely to experience stress the next day, particularly if they consumed less alcohol. Greater consumption, however, was related to greater odds of experiencing regret, but this was stronger among individuals with higher drinking intentions.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings are discussed in terms of the complex interplay between intentions and both social environment and contextual factors with respect to predicting drinking level and related problems.

Using Behavioural Reasoning Theory to Explore Reasons for Dietary Restriction: A Qualitative Study of Orthorexic Behavioural Tendencies in the UK

Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) has gained increased attention in academia since 1997. However, like other “Exia” conditions, there is debate around its inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This study aimed to examine the experiences of those following a diet indicative of ON in the United Kingdom. This information is essential to the development of diagnostic criteria and classification of ON. Behavioural Reasoning Theory was used to explore reasons contributing to the development of ON. Ten individuals (two males and eight females), aged 23–35 years, took part in semi-structured interviews. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the results. Four themes emerged from the data—journey, social, rules/control, and ethical considerations which highlighted contributing factors to the development of ON behaviours, the impact of these behaviours on individuals' social lives, and a strive for control. These findings are the first to suggest that ON involves a more complex set of behaviours than current definitions and proposed diagnostic criteria suggest and highlight the need to consider a variety of reasons for restricted diet when developing diagnostic criteria, screening tools, and classification in the DSM.

Do preparatory behaviours predict alcohol consumption among UK university students?

OBJECTIVE

This study explored whether the frequency and habitual nature of engagement in three behaviours that may serve as preparation for alcohol consumption on a night out with friends - that is, contacting friends to arrange a night out, buying alcohol, drinking alone at home before going out - predicted consumption on such nights.

DESIGN

Prospective correlational design.

METHODS

One hundred and twenty UK university students (68 female, 50 male, two non-binary, mean age = 20.78 years, SD = 1.52) completed a survey comprising intentions, habits, and frequency and habit for the three preparatory behaviours. One week later, a second survey measured the number of nights out with friends on which alcohol was drunk (i.e., drinking frequency) and the number on which four or more alcoholic drinks were consumed (i.e, excessive drinking). Regression models were run to predict drinking frequency and excessive drinking.

RESULTS

Drinking frequency was predicted only by frequency of contacting friends (B = .28, SE = .12, p = .02), and habitually drinking alone before going out (B = .20, SE = .09, p = .03). Excessive drinking was only predicted by alcohol consumption habit (B = .67, SE = .23, p = .003).

CONCLUSIONS

Preceding actions may influence the frequency of alcohol consumption on nights out, independently of intentions and habits relating to alcohol consumption. While interventions to reduce consumption quantity in a single session might focus on disrupting the habits that sustain drinking episodes, efforts to reduce alcohol consumption frequency on nights out might focus on disrupting behaviours that precede alcohol consumption.

A cross-sectional analysis of binge drinking levels in US myocardial infarction survivors

BACKGROUND

Although binge drinking is associated with higher myocardial infarction (MI) incidence, little is known about binge drinking patterns in US MI survivors, at elevated risk for recurrent MIs.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence of and what factors are associated with binge drinking in US MI survivors.

METHODS

We compared the prevalence of binge drinking between MI survivors and those without a MI history in 2016-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data. Logistic regression was used to examine which sociodemographic factors are associated with binge drinking in these groups.

RESULTS

8.7% of MI survivors (1.1 million people nationwide) were binge drinkers. Among MI survivors; being young, male, Hispanic, having higher income, and having lower educational attainment were associated with increased binge drinking.

CONCLUSIONS

The sizable number of US MI survivors who binge drink suggests interventions to reduce this behavior are warranted, especially among specific sociodemographic groups of this population.

Psychometric Properties of the "Alcohol Consumption Consequences Evaluation" (ACCE) Scale for Young Spanish University Students

Instruments that evaluate alcohol use consequences among young people do not consider the intensive alcohol consumption pattern that is so characteristic during these ages. Some of these instruments are even ineffective in the Spanish population. Hence the interest in developing an instrument more adapted to the reality of our young people. A total of 601 university students (35.9% male and 64.1% female) from 18 to 20 years old were recruited. All of them answered a total of 77 items obtained from the review of both the scientific literature and the different scales used to measure consequences derived from alcohol consumption. In addition, they completed the AUDIT and the Timeline Followback for self-reported consumption. The data were analyzed using factor analysis and a two-parameter logistic model. ROC curve analysis was used to establish cut-off points for different risk levels of alcohol consumption distinguishing between genders. The final 43-item scale Alcohol Consumption Consequences Evaluation (ACCE) (Evaluación de Consecuencias derivadas del Consumo de Alcohol [ECCA]) shows adequate psychometric properties: α = 0.94; unidimensionality through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (26.25% of explained variance) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (RMSEA = 0.39; TLI and CFI > 0.90). In addition, ROC analyses, both at a global scale and distinguishing between genders, were able to characterize consumers with different levels of risk, obtaining areas under the curve between 0.82 and 0.88. A scale has been obtained that enables the establishment of cut-off points to distinguish between the consequences of low, moderate and high risk alcohol consumption. The clinical utility of the ACCE is highlighted by using one single instrument to perform the screening of a possible alcohol risk consumption as well as identifying the consequences that need to be worked on in the evaluated person’s or group’s intervention.

Changing Pay Systems in Organizations: Using Behavioral Reasoning Theory to Understand Employee Support for Pay-for-Performance (or Not)

Recently, the use of pay-for-performance systems has rapidly expanded into new industries. However, many employees resist these changes, mitigating effectiveness. Unfortunately, little scientific research has examined underlying reasons for the support or nonsupport of such systems, informed by theory. Grounded in behavioral reasoning theory and organizational change frameworks, this study examined antecedents and consequences of employees’ reasoning process to support or not support pay-for-performance systems. Structural equation results on 245 employees demonstrated that reasons for and reasons against supporting pay-for-performance systems predicted attitudes and intentions to support the systems. Significant antecedents of the reasoning included pay valence, top management support, and coworker support. Top reasons for supporting the systems included increased opportunities to make money and being recognized for high performance. Top reasons against supporting the systems included the political nature of pay-for-performance and concerns that performance would not be measured accurately. Implications for organizational change programs are highlighted.

Perceived Social Support from Significant Others among Binge Drinking and Polyconsuming Spanish University Students

Sense of acceptance is conceived as a central component of perceived social support and is thought to be a key resilience factor for adjustment during transition to university. The current study examines how a binge drinking pattern of alcohol consumption and the co-consumption of binge drinking and cannabis in first-year university students are related to perceived acceptance from family, mother, father, and friends. The study sample consisted of 268 women and 216 men, of average age 18.25 years (SE = 0.01), enrolled in the first year of different degree courses at the University of Santiago de Compostela. Participants were classified in three groups (control, binge drinking, polyconsuming) on the basis of the Timeline Followback for alcohol and cannabis. Perceived sense of acceptance was measured using the Perceived Acceptance Scale. Analysis of the data revealed that perceived acceptance was lower in polyconsuming students than in the binge drinking and control groups (p < 0.05; with η2 ranging between 0.009 and 0.020). A curvilinear relationship between binge drinking and perceived acceptance from friends was identified. Social support should be considered in future investigations and interventions as a vulnerability marker for detrimental consequences of substance use and risk of consumption disorders, as well as adolescent maladjustment.

"Don't Drink Too Much!" Reactance Among Young Men Following Health-Related Social Control

This study investigated conditions under which young men responded with reactance to the suggestion to reduce their alcohol consumption. In an experimental study, 84 young men (university students, mean age: 24 years) listened to a recorded telephone call and were asked to imagine that they themselves were the recipients of this call. In this call, either a girlfriend or a male friend suggested that the recipient of the call should reduce his alcohol intake that evening. In one condition, the suggestion was highly restrictive; in the other condition, the suggestion was framed in a nonrestrictive way. Perceived threat, negative thoughts, and feelings of anger after listening to the call were assessed. Further outcome variables were intention and perceived probability of complying with the suggestion. Participants felt more anger after hearing the highly restrictive suggestion and more threatened by the suggestion made by the girlfriend. Interaction effects emerged. Participants reported more negative thoughts and lower intention and perceived probability to comply when a highly restrictive suggestion was made by the girlfriend. The male friend’s highly restrictive suggestion resulted in a perceived probability of complying (54%) that was similar to the probability of the girlfriend’s nonrestrictive suggestion (55%). Women’s efforts to reduce their male partners’ alcohol consumption can result in boomerang effects. Male peers might be more effective in motivating other men to behave in a healthier way. These results support recent findings with regard to the potential of peer positive social control.

Using the theory of planned behaviour and implementation intentions to reduce binge drinking in new university students

OBJECTIVE

Excessive alcohol consumption, including binge drinking, increases when students enter university. This study tests whether combining messages targeting theory of planned behaviour (TPB) constructs with if-then plans (i.e. implementation intentions) to avoid binge drinking reduces binge drinking in new university students.

DESIGN

One month after starting university, students (N = 407) were randomly assigned to condition in a 2 (TPB messages) × 2 (implementation intentions) factorial design.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Cognitions about binge drinking were assessed immediately post-intervention. Frequency of binge drinking was assessed at one-month follow-up (n = 205).

RESULTS

Participants who viewed the messages had significantly weaker intentions to engage in binge drinking and less favourable cognitions about binge drinking (affective attitude, descriptive norms, and self-efficacy) than those who did not view the messages. In addition, participants who formed an implementation intention to avoid binge drinking reported significantly fewer instances of binge drinking at follow-up.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide some support for the use of interventions based on the TPB to reduce intentions to engage in binge drinking and for forming implementation intentions to reduce the frequency of binge drinking in new university students. No evidence was found for the synergistic effect of combining the two interventions.

Predicting heavy episodic drinking using an extended temporal self-regulation theory

INTRODUCTION

Alcohol consumption contributes significantly to the global burden from disease and injury, and specific patterns of heavy episodic drinking contribute uniquely to this burden. Temporal self-regulation theory and the dual-process model describe similar theoretical constructs that might predict heavy episodic drinking. The aims of this study were to test the utility of temporal self-regulation theory in predicting heavy episodic drinking, and examine whether the theoretical relationships suggested by the dual-process model significantly extend temporal self-regulation theory.

METHODS

This was a predictive study with 149 Australian adults. Measures were questionnaires (self-report habit index, cues to action scale, purpose-made intention questionnaire, timeline follow-back questionnaire) and executive function tasks (Stroop, Tower of London, operation span). Participants completed measures of theoretical constructs at baseline and reported their alcohol consumption two weeks later. Data were analysed using hierarchical multiple linear regression.

RESULTS

Temporal self-regulation theory significantly predicted heavy episodic drinking (R²=48.0-54.8%, p<0.001) and the hypothesised extension significantly improved the prediction of heavy episodic drinking frequency (ΔR²=4.5%, p=0.001) but not peak consumption (ΔR²=1.4%, p=0.181). Intention and behavioural prepotency directly predicted heavy episodic drinking (p<0.01). Planning ability moderated the intention-behaviour relationship and inhibitory control moderated the behavioural prepotency-behaviour relationship (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Both temporal self-regulation theory and the extended temporal self-regulation theory provide good prediction of heavy episodic drinking. Intention, behavioural prepotency, planning ability and inhibitory control may be good targets for interventions designed to decrease heavy episodic drinking.

Factors associated with a fantastic lifestyle in Brazilian college students - a multilevel analysis

ABSTRACT Purpose: to analyze possible associations between a Fantastic lifestyle and self-perception of oral health, binge drinking, and socio-demographic variables among public college students. Methods: questionnaires validated for use in Brazil were applied to 672 students in randomly selected courses. It was the first questionnaire to assess a Fantastic lifestyle, the second to measure oral health-related quality of life (OHIP-14), and the third to include socio-demographic information. Multilevel linear regression was used for the analyses. Results: among the participants, 64.21% were full-time students, 52.82% were females, 50.85% had a family income between 4 and 8 minimum wages, 16.75% were binge drinkers, and 22.22% used to drive after drinking. Socio-demographic variables such as income (p = 0.001), religion (p = 0.02), marital status (p = 0.021), binge drinking (p <0.001), and OHIP-14 (p <0.001) were associated with a Fantastic lifestyle. Conclusions: fantastic lifestyle of the Brazilian college students was associated with income, oral health-related quality of life, marital status, religion, and alcohol consumption (binge drinking).

Binging at the campus: Motivations and impulsivity influence binge drinking profiles in university students

This study explored the involvement of two key psychological factors, drinking motives and impulsivity traits, in binge drinking. On the basis of a large screening phase (N=4424), 867 binge drinkers were selected and were first compared with 924 non-binge drinkers. Then, a cluster analysis was performed, focusing on the binge drinker sample, to explore the respective involvement of four drinking motives (DMQ-R model) and four impulsivity facets (UPPS model) in this habit. Centrally, the cluster analysis identified three clusters of binge drinkers presenting distinct psychological characteristics and alcohol consumption patterns: emotional, recreational, and hazardous binge drinkers. Hazardous binge drinkers were characterized by strong drinking motives but moderate impulsivity. Binge drinking should thus no more be considered as a unitary drinking pattern but rather as a habit encompassing a variety of psychological profiles. Moreover, risky drinking habits in young people might be mainly related to disproportionate drinking motives. Future studies should thus consider binge drinking heterogeneity, and prevention programs focusing on drinking motivations should be developed.

The social image of drinking - mass media campaigns may inadvertently increase binge drinking

Mass media campaigns that promote responsible drinking are rarely tested for their usefulness in reducing heavy alcohol consumption. Existing campaigns that appeal to responsible drinking while simultaneously displaying young people in social drinking situations may even have paradoxical effects. To examine such possible effects, we drew on a real-world media campaign, which we systematically modified on the basis of recent prototype research. We pilot tested questionnaires (using n = 41 participants), developed two different sets of posters in the style of an existing campaign (n = 39) and investigated their effectiveness (n = 102). In the main study, young men were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: sociable or unsociable binge drinker prototype condition or a control group. Outcome variables were intention, behavioural willingness, attitude, subjective norm, self-efficacy, prototype evaluation and prototype similarity with respect to binge drinking. Binge drinking as a habit was included to control for the fact that habitual drinking in social situations is hard to overcome and poses a particular challenge to interventions. The manipulation check showed that the experimental variation (sociable vs. unsociable drinker prototype condition) was successful. Results of the main study showed that the sociable drinker prototype condition resulted in a higher willingness and - for those with less of a habit - a higher intention to binge drink the next weekend. The unsociable drinker prototype condition had no effects. The results imply that the social components of mass media campaigns might inadvertently exacerbate binge drinking in young men. We therefore advocate against campaigns including aspects of alcohol consumption that might be positively associated with drinker prototype perception. Finally, we provide suggestions for future research.

How well does the theory of planned behaviour predict alcohol consumption? A systematic review and meta-analysis

This study aimed to quantify correlations between theory of planned behaviour (TPB) variables and (i) intentions to consume alcohol and (ii) alcohol consumption. Systematic literature searches identified 40 eligible studies that were meta-analysed. Three moderator analyses were conducted: pattern of consumption, gender of participants and age of participants. Across studies, intentions had the strongest relationship with attitudes (r₊ = .62), followed by subjective norms (r₊ = .47) and perceived behavioural control (PBC; r₊ = .31). Self-efficacy (SE) had a stronger relationship with intentions (r₊ = .48) compared with perceived control (PC; r₊ = −.10). Intention had the strongest relationship with alcohol consumption (r₊ = .54), followed by SE (r₊ = .41). In contrast, PBC and PC had negative relationships with alcohol consumption (r₊ = −.05 and −.13, respectively). All moderators affected TPB relationships. Patterns of consumption with clear definitions had stronger TPB relations, females reported stronger attitude–intention relations than males, and adults reported stronger attitude–intention and SE–intention relations than adolescents. Recommendations for future research include targeting attitudes and intentions in interventions to reduce alcohol consumption, using clear definitions of alcohol consumption in TPB items to improve prediction and assessing SE when investigating risk behaviours.

A theory-based online health behavior intervention for new university students: study protocol

BACKGROUND

Too few young people engage in behaviors that reduce the risk of morbidity and premature mortality, such as eating healthily, being physically active, drinking sensibly and not smoking. The present research developed an online intervention to target these health behaviors during the significant life transition from school to university when health beliefs and behaviors may be more open to change. This paper describes the intervention and the proposed approach to its evaluation.

METHODS/DESIGN

Potential participants (all undergraduates about to enter the University of Sheffield) will be emailed an online questionnaire two weeks before starting university. On completion of the questionnaire, respondents will be randomly assigned to receive either an online health behavior intervention (U@Uni) or a control condition. The intervention employs three behavior change techniques (self-affirmation, theory-based messages, and implementation intentions) to target four heath behaviors (alcohol consumption, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, and smoking). Subsequently, all participants will be emailed follow-up questionnaires approximately one and six months after starting university. The questionnaires will assess the four targeted behaviors and associated cognitions (e.g., intentions, self-efficacy) as well as socio-demographic variables, health status, Body Mass Index (BMI), health service use and recreational drug use. A sub-sample of participants will provide a sample of hair to assess changes in biochemical markers of health behavior. A health economic evaluation of the cost effectiveness of the intervention will also be conducted.

DISCUSSION

The findings will provide evidence on the effectiveness of online interventions as well as the potential for intervening during significant life transitions, such as the move from school to university. If successful, the intervention could be employed at other universities to promote healthy behaviors among new undergraduates.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN67684181.