Psychiatric Comorbidities of Hazardous Alcohol Drinking in College Students

Alcohol drinking among young people is a major global public health concern. The situation has been aggravated further by the advent of the internet and subsequent development of social media as a tool for online alcohol marketing. Measures that aim at reducing substance abuse is a stride towards “2030 Agenda” for sustainable development goal number 3 set by the United Nation General Assembly. In this goal, attention is not only drawn to health and wellbeing but also to prevention and treatment of substance abuse. This descriptive study sought to find out the prevalence of alcohol advertisements on social media and its possible influence on alcohol drinking among Kenya’s higher vocational college students. Based on a field survey conducted in Nairobi (n=209), this study established that there was heavy presence of alcohol advertisements on social media scene in Kenya. Although statistically, there was huge gender disparity, the final results showed that there was significant association between alcohol ads on social media and college student’s possible alcohol drinking habits. This study concludes that there was heavy presence of alcohol ads on social media, and the likelihood of youth having unrestricted access to the alcoholic beverage products. This could have a far-reaching implication on their alcohol drinking habits. Therefore, the study recommends the stakeholders in public health promotions to formulate policies aimed at mitigating against the challenges posed by unrestricted access to online alcohol ads by the youth in order to prevent them from being lured into early alcohol drinking by the alcoholic beverage makers.　 Keywords: Alcohol abuse; Influence; Online ads; Youth; Kenya

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P-25PREVALENCE OF ALCOHOL DRINKING AND ALCOHOL RELATED PROBLEMS IN FRESHMEN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Alcohol and Alcoholism ◽

10.1093/alcalc/agv080.25 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 50 (suppl 1) ◽

pp. i51.2-i51

Author(s):

B. V. Vera ◽

R. M. Pautassi ◽

A. Pilatti

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Alcohol Drinking ◽

Alcohol Related Problems

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Think-aloud testing of a novel safer drinking app for college students during COVID-19 (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.32716 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jessica Gomez Smith ◽

Nour Sami Alamiri ◽

Grace Biegger ◽

Christina Frederick ◽

Jennifer P. Halbert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Drinking Behavior ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Mobile App ◽

Think Aloud ◽

Risky Drinking ◽

Student Drinking ◽

Hazardous Alcohol ◽

Hazardous Alcohol Consumption ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND Hazardous alcohol consumption, and binge drinking in particular, continues to be common among college students, posing the greatestrisk for their health and safety. Despite widespread exposure to evidence-based preventive interventions among U.S. undergraduates, only modest and temporary effects on risky drinking occur. Formative studies have demonstrated that students want a more engaging intervention tool for risky drinking that can be used “just in time.” OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to test the appeal, relevance, and perceived utility of a draft mobile app for safer student drinking. METHODS Undergraduate student participants tested the draft mobile app via an interactive online prototype with hot spots that responded to their taps to mimic app functionality. They narrated their impressions, navigation, and comments in a standardized Think-Aloud procedure. After each round of Think-aloud interviews, researchers debriefed the investigators and developers to discuss findings and brainstorm app modifications. RESULTS Data indicated that minor changes to the functionality and aesthetics would improve usability of the app. Student testers recommended tailoring the app to the needs of college students and to aspects of the local university’s drinking culture. CONCLUSIONS Findings from this study will be synthesized with information gained from other formative work to determine the final app features. We will test the app in a pilot randomized trial to assess app usage and the impact of the app on college student drinking behavior over several months.

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