Participation in Drinking Games and Predrinking Among University Students in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Publisher: Oxford University Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8310684 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1464-3502 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 07350414 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Alcohol Alcohol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: <2003- > : Oxford : Oxford University Press
Original Publication: Oxford ; New York : Pergamon Press, c1983-

Alcohol Drinking in College* ; Games, Recreational*; Students/*statistics & numerical data; Argentina ; Australia ; Canada ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; New Zealand ; Self Report ; Social Behavior ; Universities ; Young Adult

Aims: The limited existing research on drinking games and predrinking among university students in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand suggests that participation in these risky drinking practices is relatively widespread among this population. Drinking norms and alcohol use can vary across countries and in different regions of the globe. The measurement of drinking games and predrinking participation between studies also differs, making cross-country comparisons difficult. The present study explored differences in past month participation in drinking games and predrinking among university students from a large public university in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
Methods: The data analytic sample consisted of 1134 university students (ages 18-25, Mage = 20.2 years; 72.6% women) from Argentina (n = 349), Australia (n = 280), Canada (n = 262), and New Zealand (n = 243) who reported weekly alcohol consumption. Students completed a confidential survey on drinking attitudes and behaviors.
Results: Controlling for age, gender, and weekly drink consumption, there were no cross-country differences in past month participation in predrinking. In contrast, university students from Canada and New Zealand were more likely to have played a drinking game in the past month than students from Australia and Argentina.
Conclusions: The present finding suggest that university students from Argentina, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are equally likely to participate in predrinking regardless of country; however, the likelihood of playing drinking games differs as a function of country site.
(© The Author(s) 2021. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.)

Fulbright Scholar Award

Keywords: drinking games; pre-drinking; pre-loading; pregaming; prepartying; university students

Date Created: 20210122 Date Completed: 20211217 Latest Revision: 20211217

20231215

10.1093/alcalc/agaa141

33479723