The relationship between sports participation and increased heavy drinking among college students has been well-established in literature. Due to many factors, coping with the stress of being a student-athlete, and the “work hard, play hard” mindset makes it easy to see why this correlation exists. Studies have shown that student-athletes that self-identify as men report higher levels of heavy alcohol consumption. This article explores how known demographics (age, fraternity/sorority membership status), sports-related risk factors, and dimensions of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI) have been linked to alcohol use or misuse.
This study consisted of 208 student-athletes, between the ages of 18-25, and self-identified as male. Of these 208 students, 7.6% reported being in a fraternity/sorority. The Masculine Drinking Norms and General Masculine Norms (MDNM) were used to assess two dimensions of masculine drinking norms: excess and control. The participants completed the Daily Drinking Questionnaire, and the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences scale was used to measure negative consequences. These questions consisted of asking about memory lapses related to alcohol or other negative consequences in the past 30 days.
The results showed that for some college student-athletes drinking in a masculine way involves the ability to consume heavy amounts of alcohol in excess but also being able to control the related behaviors. Also found, was that the masculine drinking norm of excess showed an increase in alcohol use and consequences. The hypothesis that masculine drinking norms of control are negatively related to alcohol use and consequence was supported. Lastly, this study found that the masculine drinking norm of excess was more strongly related to alcohol use and consequences than the drinking norm of control.
Takeaway: Masculine drinking norms of excess have a substantial increase in alcohol use and consequences for student-athletes.