Alcohol is used by a large amount of the population throughout the world. However, both the short-term use and the long-term use of alcohol is associated with negative health effects. A large amount of studies have investigated these effects, but in this article we will focus on a single study.
Sæther et al. (2019) conducted a study investigating the correlation between alcohol consumption and life satisfaction/mental health among college and university students in Norway. They specifically surveyed college students because “[h]eavy drinking is by some students seen as integral to the college social life”. This article will briefly present the methods used and the results obtained in this study.
Methods
The data that were investigated were obtained “from the Norwegian study of students’ health and well-being, SHoT (“Studentenes Helse- og Trivselsundersøkelse”), commissioned by the student welfare organizations in Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim and collected in February and March 2014”. These data were collected from a total of 9,810 students under 35 years old who were attending various colleges and universities in Norway. The participants were asked about the following:
- How much alcohol they consumed (between “never”, “monthly or less”, “2-4 times a month”, “2-3 times a week”, and “4 times a week or more”)
- People who answered anything but “never” were asked the following additional questions, among others
- “how many units [they] consume on a typical day of drinking”
- “how often they consume six or more units of alcohol”
- “whether they themselves or someone else have been injured because of their drinking”
Based on the responses to these questions, the respondents were categorized into four groups: abstainers (7%), low risk consumption (52%), risky consumption (38%), and hazardous consumption (3%). This was the independent variable. The dependent variables were:
- Life satisfaction measured using a Norwegian version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale
- Mental health complaints measured using the 25 item Hopkins Symptoms Check List
- Number of close friends
- Loneliness measured using ten statements ranked on a five-point Likert scale
Results
Regarding the relationships between the dependent variables, life satisfaction and mental health complaints were found to be strongly correlated, and both factors were also associated with the number of friends as well as social loneliness and emotional loneliness.
Some of the results of the study were as follows:
- People who reported risky consumption or hazardous consumption reported lower life satisfaction than people who reported low risk consumption
- People who reported risky consumption or hazardous consumption reported more mental health complaints than people who reported low risk consumption
- People who reported risky consumption reported having more close friends than people with low risk consumption, and people with low risk consumption reported having more close friends than abstainers
- People who reported risky consumption reported less social loneliness than people who reported low risk consumption, and people who reported low risk consumption reported less social loneliness than abstainers and people who reported hazardous consumption
- People who reported low risk consumption reported less emotional loneliness than abstainers, people who reported risky consumption, and people who reported hazardous consumption
Wrapping up
Altogether, the results indicate that low risk consumption is associated with substantially fewer negative effects than risky consumption and hazardous consumption. In addition, in some social aspects, low risk consumption led to better outcomes than being an abstainer, potentially suggesting certain negative social effects of not drinking. Ultimately, if someone does not want to quit drinking entirely, there seem to be benefits associated with capping one’s drinking at a reasonable amount.
References
Sæther, S.M.M., Knapstad, M., Askeland, K.G., Skogen J.C. (2019). Alcohol consumption, life satisfaction and mental health among Norwegian college and university students. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 10(1), 100216. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2019.100216.
