Undergraduate student drinking and related harms at an Australian university: web-based survey of a large random sample

A high prevalence of hazardous drinking by university students has been reported in many countries [1‐3] with this population group often drinking more than their non-university/college student peers [4‐7]. In large-scale national surveys in the United States, 37-44% of students report binge drinking (more than five standard drinks per occasion; each containing 12 g ethanol) in the previous two weeks [8‐10] with men drinking more than women, although this difference has narrowed over time [10‐12]. Among New Zealand (NZ) university students, 37% have reported one or more binge episodes in the previous week [13].

Factors within the university environment contribute to these high levels of consumption leading to a range of negative consequences [5, 7, 14]. These include: social, physical and psychological harms to the student e.g. academic impairment, blackouts, injury, suicide, unintended sexual activity and sexual coercion; harm to other people including interpersonal and sexual violence; and costs to the institution such as property damage and student attrition [13, 15‐21]. The secondhand effects of people's drinking on others are also assuming greater importance for advocacy in alcohol control policy, both for the victims experiencing assaults, sexual violence and impacts on studying [18, 22] and for the wider community experiencing litter, noise and vandalism [23].

Australian studies report between 70-96% of university students regularly consume alcohol [24‐29] with 50% drinking to intoxication at least weekly [30, 31]. However, previous studies have relied on convenience samples [24‐39] and most are at least a decade old [24‐33, 38]. The one Australian study that used a random sample [40] surveyed only international students and therefore is not generalizable to all university students. This study found, that 66% consumed alcohol and 2% drank five standard drinks or more per occasion once or more a week.

There is significant support for the use of the Internet to collect epidemiological data particularly among university populations [41‐45]. Online surveys permit fast application and wide accessibility [46, 47]. With their capacity for interactivity, automaticity, respondent anonymity and cost effectiveness [48‐50], ability to facilitate more honest and thoughtful responses [42, 51] and good validity and reliability [43, 52‐57], a carefully conducted online survey may help overcome many of the barriers associated with collecting epidemiological data [58‐60]. Unlike the proportionate cost to attain large sample sizes using traditional modes of survey implementation, marginal costs are low and therefore they are advantageous for large sample sizes [59, 61]. In addition, unique features such as complex logic and branching [62] and real-time error checking and automated data entry [63] allow statistical processing to occur in real time [64]. This enables web-survey technology to deliver concurrent feedback interventions [65]. It may be ethically obligatory when surveys identify harmful behaviours among respondents to provide feedback. This may be an efficient option given that provision of immediate feedback in this context has been shown to change behaviour [65, 66].

As part of a larger efficacy trial of a web-based alcohol screening and brief intervention [65, 67], this study estimated the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, and prevalence of hazardous drinking and secondhand effects among a large sample of undergraduate students attending a university in Perth, Western Australia.

Of the 13,000 students invited, 7,237 responded (56% response rate) with 57% of these being women (n = 4123) and 16.2% non-Australian/NZ residents (n = 1172). The mean age of the respondents was 19.5 years (SD = 1.9). There was a higher representation of women, Australian/NZ residents and those aged 17-19 years among the survey respondents compared to the sample (p < 0.001) (see Table 1). The small differences (less than 5%) between early (before the second reminder) and late (after the second reminder) survey responders in relation to age, citizenship and gender were not significant. There was also no significant difference in mean AUDIT score between early and late survey responders.

This study is the first known prevalence study of student drinking completed in Australia with undergraduate students. The vast majority of students were current drinkers (90%) and there was a high prevalence of hazardous drinking (48%), with a higher prevalence among men compared with women, and in Australian/NZ residents compared with non-residents. A relatively large proportion of students' experienced secondhand effects from other people's drinking.

The survey had a response rate of 56%, which is higher than large college surveys in the early 2000s in the United States (52%) [10], but lower than online surveys in New Zealand using similar procedures (63-82%) [13, 59]. Higher response rates for online surveys have been linked to pre-notification, personalised contacts and follow up reminders [77]. Both this and the New Zealand studies incorporated pre-notification, personalised emails and follow-up notices. However, the earlier New Zealand study used up to nine follow-up contacts (compared to five in this study) including a telephone reminder, which may explain some of the difference. Follow-up notices are likely to increase response rates though larger numbers of notices may not appreciably affect response if the contact develops resistance to participation [78]. It is also possible that the novelty factor of online surveys may have reduced in the years since the New Zealand studies and factors such as proliferation of junk mail, bombardment with online questionnaires and demands on student time may also have impacted on response rates [47].

The level of alcohol consumption reported in this study is less than that reported in New Zealand, for both men and women [13]. Although gender convergence in drinking has been reported elsewhere [10‐12, 79] and a similar trend appears to be occurring in Australia [80], this study shows a large discrepancy between men and women. However, there are no older prevalence studies from which to assess attenuation trends.

Large numbers of people were affected by other students' drinking. Of particular note was the 0.9% (n = 36) of women and 1.1% (n = 35) of men who reported being a victim of sexual assault in the previous 4 weeks. This is slightly higher than that found in a New Zealand sample [81] though with overlapping confidence intervals. While the New Zealand sample was limited to those who had consumed alcohol in the previous 4 weeks, our sample included non-heavy drinkers and may highlight the impact that hazardous alcohol consumption can have on all students. Extrapolated to the entire student population this may mean approximately 140 students at this university experience sexual assault in this context each month.

A limitation of this study was the imprecision in the specificity of crimes listed in the secondhand effects questions and the reliance on respondents to attribute responsibility for the effect. As only yes or no responses were available, multiple experiences of the same effect were not captured and therefore the prevalence of these effects may be underestimated. Given the high prevalence of some of these effects further research in this area is warranted. Our estimates may be biased by selective non-response but conversely computerised questionnaires are known to increase reporting of high-risk behaviour [42, 51].

Universities with large on-campus resident populations may have higher levels of drinking than commuter universities due to students' greater proximity to peers [82]. As this study is based on a single commuter university and has a high proportion of students on temporary visas, the findings may be limited in their generalisability.

This study highlights the need for university programs to target drinking in this population. With half of male, and over a third of female, respondents drinking at hazardous levels, population approaches are needed. The literature suggests that programs should also address environmental factors, particularly the availability and promotion of alcohol on and around campus [22, 83].

Hazardous alcohol use among undergraduate students remains an issue of concern although there is a lack of prevalence data on this population's alcohol consumption in Australia. Some alcohol related harms such as sexual assault are only detected with large population samples. Web-based surveys are a cost-effective approach for measuring health behaviours in student populations, with a relatively high response rate. It is suggested that this research is replicated in other Australian universities, particularly residential campuses. Such surveys are required to develop trend data which will facilitate intervention program development.