Related Experiment Videos
College students' self-reported reasons for why drinking games end
1Psychology Department, Indiana State University, Terre Haute 47809, USA. pytjohn@root.indstate.edu
Addictive Behaviors
|January 22, 2002
Summary
Students often quit drinking games due to others stopping or personal limits. Understanding these reasons can help reduce alcohol-related harms from these activities.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Sociology
Background:
- Drinking game participation is linked to negative alcohol-related consequences.
- Understanding game cessation is crucial for harm reduction strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine student-reported reasons for drinking games ending or players quitting.
- To identify factors influencing drinking game cessation and their relation to alcohol consequences.
Main Methods:
- Principal components analysis of 20 reasons for quitting.
- Correlational analysis of identified factors with alcohol consumption, consequences, and personality measures.
Main Results:
- Top reasons for quitting include others stopping play and reaching personal alcohol limits.
- Six factors emerged: Conformity/Boredom, Interpersonal Competition, Sexual Contact, Excessive Consumption, Interpersonal Conflict, and External Circumstances.
- Conformity/Boredom and External Circumstances factors showed the lowest association with negative alcohol consequences.
Conclusions:
- Many students continue playing until experiencing excessive intoxication or illness.
- Understanding drinking game dynamics can inform the development of targeted prevention interventions.
- Interventions focusing on conformity, boredom, or external circumstances may mitigate harm.