Marketing Research Alcohol Abuse of Ateneo College Students: An Assessment I. Introduction One of the ways in which communication functions is in the creation and maintenance of the ways in which using and abusing substances, especially alcohol, are talked about and treated. When, for example, society considered the use of alcohol to be a social sin, its use is banned. “Prohibition” is the name given to the era during which it was illegal in Davao City to buy, sell, and drink alcohol after 2am, especially if you are under 18.
After prohibition was repealed, alcohol once again became a legal substance, while other related drugs, such as marijuana, continued to be thought of as harmful. Words for the use of these substances and the meanings that are attributed to their use arise out of communication and are an area of study in health communication. The ways of using and abusing alcohol on the college campus can be called as the “culture of college drinking. ” In the culture of college drinking, drinking to excess is considered to be an inherent part of the college years.
Because of the attention that drinking on the campus receives, it is an important example of a broader subject: communication, health, environmental influence and substance abuse. While dangerous drinking concerns college health educators, administrators, and even some students and parents, most students (and their parents) consider drinking itself to be an integral part of college life. Because their perception is relative to those around them, students who drink dangerously often do not recognize that their drinking is problematic. Many of them think that no matter how much they drink; there are others who drink more.
This perception of a cultural norm of excessive drinking during the college years is created and/or reinforced on a daily basis by the media (including magazines, tv ads and newspapers that carry “Drink All You Can” and “Open House” advertisements), major advertising that targets students (e. g. , beer companies with Summer Break Drinking Campaigns), and interpersonal experience (e. g. , sharing war stories about the “night before”; attending fraternity parties and other social events that encourage alcohol abuse). All of this occurs despite the fact that data consistently indicate that the percentage of tudents who actually drink excessively is far below the shared misperception that “everybody does. ” Concern about dangerous drinking has led to a variety of studies and interventions on college campuses. Using focus group interviews, the researcher will explore the role that alcohol plays in the lives of students. While students articulate negative consequences (e. g. , hangovers, vomiting, being taken advantage of physically and/or sexually), they report ignoring these factors because they see drinking as a rite of passage into adulthood or acceptance from/by friends.
If simply getting drunk helps students to achieve their social and interpersonal goals, then students can be expected to keep getting drunk. Even if severe intoxication causes illness, the downside of drinking can be endured as long as it is not worse than the rewards that are gained. However, it is somewhat possible that alcohol is no longer abused when students gain the pleasure of social contact and friendship without having to drink. It is therefore in this light that the researcher who happens to be a college student herself has decided to conduct this research study on “Alcohol Abuse of Ateneo College Students: An Assessment”.
II. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions. In common and historic usage, alcoholism refers to any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages despite the health problems and negative social consequences it causes. Medical definitions describe alcoholism as a disease which results in a persistent use of alcohol despite negative consequences. Alcoholism may also refer to a preoccupation with or compulsion toward the consumption of alcohol and/or an impaired ability to recognize the negative effects of excessive alcohol consumption.
Although not all of these definitions specify current and on-going use of alcohol as a qualifier, some do, as well as remarking on the long-term effects of consistent, heavy alcohol use, include dependence and symptoms of withdrawal. While the ingestion of alcohol is, by definition, necessary to develop alcoholism, the use of alcohol does not predict the development of alcoholism. The quantity, frequency and regularity of alcohol consumption required to develop alcoholism varies greatly from person to person.
In addition, although the biological mechanisms underpinning alcoholism are uncertain, some risk factors, including social environment, emotional health and genetic predisposition, have been identified. Many terms are applied to a drinker’s relationship with alcohol. Use, misuse, heavy use, abuse, addiction, and dependence are all common labels used to describe drinking habits, but the actual meaning of these words can vary greatly depending upon the context in which they are used. Even within the medical field, the definition can vary between areas of specialization. Use refers to simple use of a substance.
An individual who drinks any alcoholic beverage is using alcohol. Misuse, problem use, and heavy use do not have standard definitions, but suggest consumption of alcohol beyond the point where it causes physical, social, or moral harm to the drinker. The definitions of social and moral harm are highly subjective and therefore differ from individual to individual. Within the broad field of medicine, abuse sometimes refers to use of prescription medications in excess of the prescribed dosage, sometimes refers to use of a prescription drug without a prescription, and sometimes refers to use that results in long-term health problems.
The term is often avoided because it can cause confusion with audiences that do not necessarily share a single definition. Remission is often used to refer to a state where an alcoholic is no longer showing symptoms of alcoholism. According to the medical dictionary, remission is a condition where the physical and mental symptoms of alcoholism are no longer evident, regardless of whether or not the person is still drinking. Multiple tools are available to those wishing to conduct screening for alcoholism.
Identification of alcoholism may be difficult because there is no detectable physiologic difference between a person who drinks frequently and a person with the condition. Identification involves an objective assessment regarding the damage that imbibing alcohol does to the drinker’s life compared to the subjective benefits the drinker perceives from consuming alcohol. While there are many cases where an alcoholic’s life has been significantly and obviously damaged, there are always borderline cases that can be difficult to classify. Addiction Medicine specialists have extensive raining with respect to diagnosing and treating patients with alcoholism. Several tools may be used to detect a loss of control of alcohol use. These tools are mostly self reports in questionnaire form. Another common theme is a score or tally that sums up the general severity of alcohol use. • The CAGE questionnaire, named for its four questions, is one such example that may be used to screen patients quickly in a doctor’s office. Two “yes” responses indicate that the respondent should be investigated further. The questionnaire asks the following questions: 1.
Have you ever felt you needed to cut down on your drinking? 2. Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking? 3. Have you ever felt Guilty about drinking? 4. Have you ever felt you needed a drink first thing in the morning (Eye-opener) to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover? The CAGE questionnaire, among others, has been extensively validated for use in identifying alcoholism. It is not valid for diagnosis of other substance use disorders, although somewhat modified versions of the CAGE are frequently implemented for such a purpose.
The primary effect of alcoholism is to encourage the sufferer to drink at times and in amounts that are damaging. The secondary damage caused by an inability to control one’s drinking manifests in many ways. It is common for a person suffering from alcoholism to drink well after physical health effects start to manifest. The physical health effects associated with alcohol consumption may include cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis, epilepsy, polyneuropathy, alcoholic dementia, heart disease, increased chance of cancer, nutritional deficiencies, sexual dysfunction, and death from many sources.
The social problems arising from alcoholism can be significant. Being drunk or hung over during work hours can result in loss of employment, which can lead to financial problems including the loss of living quarters. Drinking at inappropriate times, and behavior caused by reduced judgment, can lead to legal consequences, such as criminal charges for drunk driving or public disorder, or civil penalties for tortuous behavior. An alcoholic’s behavior and mental impairment while drunk can profoundly impact surrounding family and friends, possibly leading to failure in school, or contributing to omestic violence. This can contribute to lasting damage to the emotional development of the alcoholic’s family and friends, even after they reach adulthood. The alcoholic could suffer from loss of respect from others who may see the problem as self-inflicted and easily avoided. III. Problem Statement Considering the environmental, social and emotional consciousness prevailing among Ateneo college students on alcohol, the researcher attempts to assess Ateneo college students who drink alcohol and those who have suffered different negative effects physically, mentally and academically from alcohol.
More specifically, the researcher intends to answer the following questions: 1. What is the demographic profile of these respondents (Ateneo college students who drink alcohol constantly) in terms of the following variables: – Sex – Age – Course – Year – Monthly Allowance 2. What influenced the respondents from drinking? – Environmental Influence a. Media b. Increasing Beer Products c. Drinking places near the campus – Social Influence a. Peer Pressure b. Fitting in c. Family – Other Influences a. Emotional problems b. Substance dependence 3. What can parents do? 4. How can this be prevented by the campus administration?
