Does Heavy Drinking Affect Academic Performance In College - Term Paper Example

?The Effects of Alcohol and How It Effects College GPA Introduction Use of alcohol is a common habit amongst college and is usuallyassociated with malpractices such as students missing class, deteriorating performance in tests, inability to concentrate in class in addition to students ignoring their academic responsibilities hence compromising the academic mission of colleges and universities. Previous studies have shown that consumption of alcohol has effects on one’s memory hence student who engage in episodic drinking are likely to forget the information acquired prior to alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption often results in hangovers hence time wastage since the level of concentration is low in such circumstances. In addition, use of alcohol results in mischiefs such as aggressiveness, destruction of college property, and poor sleeping habits amongst college students. Most studies done to establish the effect of alcohol on college students GPA are controversial with some showing negative effect while others show negligible effect. There is thus need for further research to establish if alcohol affects students’ performance directly or indirectly through alteration of study and schooling behaviors. This study will make use of literature from previous studies to find the effect of alcohol on college students GPA. Additionally, the effect of alcohol on the general behaviors of college students such as punctuality will be analyzed. Hypothesis My study seeks to address the hypothesis that use of alcohol among college students has effects on their GPA. The other hypothesis is on whether the views or opinion of students on the effects of alcohol on academic performance affects the students GPA. Literature Review Several studies have been done to establish the use and effects of alcohol on college students. The studies showed that drinking habits amongst teenagers aggravate when they join college. Alcohol use in college has been shown to increase misconducts and is often associated with mischiefs such as sexual assault, property damage, absenteeism from school, and underperformance in some instances. Studies done to find the effects of alcohol on the students’ performance have shown that students with episodic drinking habits perform poorer than students who do not drink alcohol at all. Most of the studies have attributed the reduced performance to the negative effects of alcohol on the student’s memory in addition to leading to poor leading habits. Such studies include one was done by Giancola (2002) and another by Powel, William and Wechsler (2002). The findings from the two studies showed that tumbling performance amongst episodic drinkers in colleges can be attributed to the direct effect of alcohol on the student’s intellectual by tampering with their memory or indirectly by affecting the student’s school attendance habits as well as studying habits. The study by Giancola entailed using four groups of student where the first group was knowingly given alcohol, another group was given non-alcoholic drink, and another group remained sober while the last group was given alcohol but made to believe the drink was non-alcoholic. In the study, student who took alcoholic drinks either knowingly or unknowingly demonstrated aggressiveness. However, Giancola argued that other factors such as ones background determined his or her behaviors after consuming alcohol. A study by Porter and Pryor (2007:457) showed that “males are more likely than female to report 3 or 4 or more occasions of heavy drinking, whereas females at women’s college are less likely to report heavy episodic drinking compared with females at research universities or coed colleges.” This study also showed reduced performance among college students who engaged in episodic drinking as compared to non-drinkers. Statistically, Porter and Pryor’s study showed that more male students engage in episodic drinking as compared to female students. Paschal and Freister (2003) studied the influence of excessive alcohol consumption on both the behaviors and academic performance of college students. Their findings were similar to those of the study done by Giancola (2002), and both studies showed that alcohol has no direct effect on the academic performance of college students. However, Paschall and Freisther’s study showed declined performance among high school students who engaged in alcohol consumption. Additionally, their study showed that alcohol leads to alteration of behaviors amongst college students. A study by Singleton (2007) showed that it is necessary to focus on other factors such as the college context and students personality in order to correctly determine if alcohol consumption has direct effects on academic performance. Singleton argued that the decline in academic performance cannot be directly attributed to alcohol but results due to the indirect effects of alcohol such as the poor leading habits. An additional study on alcohol effects amongst college students was done by Singleton and Amy (2009). This study endeavored to establish relationship between alcohol consumption, academic performance, and sleeping habits amongst college students. The study entailed interviewing a sample of 236 students obtained randomly across gender, races, level of study, as well as ethnicity. On carrying out the study, Singleton and Army (2009) found out that the level of alcohol consumption differs across gender and academic class amongst college students. Additionally, they analyzed the GPA and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores of 95% of the sample and the results showed that alcohol consumption affected the duration of sleep, the timing of sleep, and sleep hours especially amongst female students. This study showed direct effects of alcohol on college students GPA irrespective of their diversity (Singleton and Amy 2009). A study by Wood, Sher, Erickson, & DeBord (1997) showed a considerable relationship between problematic alcohol use and academic performance amongst college students. However, they attributed association to preexisting student dissimilarities amongst students on admission to college. Thombs, Olds, Bondy , Winchell, Baliunas, & Rehm (2009) did a research in which they tracked 619 students for fifteen weeks to establish if there is any relationship between alcohol consumption and undergraduate academic. They found out that there is only minimal or negligible connection between undergraduate alcohol use and their academic performance. From the above literature review, it is clear that a lot of study needs to be done to establish if alcohol has direct or indirect effects on the college students GPA. This is because there is still a lot of controversy on this issue with some study attributing poor performance among student who drinks alcohol to other factor while others attribute it to alcohol. Theoretical Framework My study on the question of the effects of alcohol consumption on college students GPA will rely on the Theory of Rational Action, also referred to as the Theory of Rational Choice. The study will make use of this theory to determine the effect of alcohol on the academic performance or GPA of college students. According to this theory, human beings are rational and are free make choices on the actions to take. However, people prefer options that are free from pain and are pleasurable. Since college students are humans, they are considered rational enough to consider the effects that alcohol consumption will have on their academic performance and behavior (Barron and Meier 2010:70-75). A rational choice on whether to take alcohol should entail considering the negative and positive effects of the action. The rational choice theory assumes that students will first compare the pleasure of taking alcohol with its impacts on the academic performance. Since the aim of being in college is to achieve academically, students will thus avoid poor GPA and will only consume alcohol if it can give them pleasure without affecting their GPAs negatively (Barron and Meier 2010:70-75). Data Analysis The study includes dependent and the independent variable. The dependent variable in this study is the academic performance, which is measured using the Grade Point Average (GPA). It is the dependent factor since academic performance can change depending on different factors. The GPA varies from student to student. The scale used follows the 4-point GPA scale. GPA Points 4. 3.5-4.0 3 3.0-3.4 2 2.5-2.9 1 2.4-2.0 0 1.9-1.5 The independent variable is the level of alcohol consumption since it is the factor that was manipulated and its effects on the academic performance measured. The study entails determining the effects of alcohol on academic performance and punctuality. Factors such as the frequency and reasons of alcohol consumption were analyzed. Methodology The study involved a survey of the academic performance and alcohol consumption, which was done on a sample of 20 students selected randomly. The students were recruited from Apple Store in Short Hills. Out of the twenty students, only nineteen participated in the study up to the end. During the study factors such as gender and race of the students were considered. The study entailed questioning the students on how often they engaged in alcohol consumption and their views on whether alcohol affected their college GPA or not. The findings were then analyzed statistically using Chi-Square and Correlation Analysis. Results Table 1: Frequency of Drinking Versus the GPA Cross tabulation Table 2 Table 3: Alcohol effects on Schoolwork versus GPA Cross tabulation Table 4: Alcohol Effects on Punctuality versus GPA Cross tabulation Table 5: Correlations Discussion Table 1 results shows that there is negligible relationship between the frequency of alcohol consumption among college students and their GPA. After using both Chi-square and correlation to test the relationship between the two variables (frequency of alcohol consumption and the GPA), the p-value was o.10 demonstrating negligible relationship. This means that the number of times college students engage in drinking has negligible influence on their GPAs. Table 2 was used to analyze the views of students on the argument that students who take alcohol 2-3 times a week is likely to succeed. The results showed that the relationship between student’s opinion on frequency of alcohol consumption and their GPA is negligible. This means that the academic performance of GPA of those students who believe that taking alcohol 2-3 time a week affects academic performance and those who do not believe so is not affected by the belief. Table 3 shows the Chi-Square and correlation analysis of the relationship between student’s opinions on the effect of alcohol on school performance and their GPA. The results of the tests show that the relationship is insignificant meaning that believing or not believing that alcohol affects academic performance is irrelevant on the students GPA. Table 4 shows the test results on the students view on how alcohol affects their punctuality to school hence the students GPA. Chi-Square and Correlation analysis show a significant relation. The correlation analysis shows that students who believe that alcohol consumption does not affect student’s punctuality to school attain lower GPA as compared to students who believe that alcohol consumption affects punctuality to school negatively hence GPA. Table 5 shows that correlation is significant at 0.01 levels. The correlation coefficient is used to measure the relationship between two variables and ranges between -1.0 and +1.0. A correlation of -1.0 designates that increase in one variable result in a decrease in the other variable. A correlation of +1.0 means that increasing the value of one variable result in an increase in the other variable. Obtaining positive correlation coefficients that is below 1.0 means that there is an increasing relationship between the two variables but the increase is irregular. This means that an increase in the value of one variable can result in an increase or a decrease of the other variable. A correlation coefficient of 0.0 indicates lack or any relationship between the two variables in that changing one variable has no effect on the other variable. Limitations of the Research The research findings might have lost full significance since they were affected by certain limitations. One of the limitations was the small size of study sample that included twenty students of which one dropped out before completion. Additionally the study was prone to biasness since some students may feel obligated to give false information regarding their GPA or their beliefs on the effects of alcohol consumptions. Such erroneous information could have lowered the credibility of the study results. Conclusion The study results from the literature review show a direct connection between alcohol consumption and students behaviors. Students who engage in episodic drinking portray behaviors such as aggression, altered sleeping patterns, poor school attendance and poor leading habits. However, there is no significant connection between the frequency of drinking with the student GPA. Furthermore, there is insignificant relationship between the opinions of student on effects of alcohol consumption on academic performance and their GPA. Nevertheless, there is a strong negative relationship between the views of students on the effect of alcohol consumption on punctuality and their GPA. Students who believe that alcohol consumption does not affect punctuality tend to perform poorly. From the study findings, the effect of alcohol on academic performance of college students is negligible. The effects were only found among students who believe that alcohol consumption has no effect on punctuality. Bibliography Barron, Marshall, and Robert, Meier.2010. Sociology of Deviant Behavior. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Giancola, Peter R. 2002. “Alcohol-Related Aggression during the College Years:Theories, Risk Factors and Policy Implications.” Journal Of Studies On Alcohol / Supplement No. 14: 129-139. Paschall, Mallie J. and Freisther, Bridget. 2003. “Does Heavy Drinking Affect Academic Performance In College?  Findings from a Prospective Study of High Achievers.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 64(4):515-519. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier/EBSCO database. Porter, Stephen R.and Pryor, John. 2007. The perfomance, and Time UseEffects of Heavy Episodic Alcohol Use on Student Engagement, Academic. Journal of College Student Development Vol 48 No 4:455-468. Powell, Lisa M., Williams, Jenny, and Wechsler, Henry.2002. “Study Habits and the Level of Alcohol Use Among College Students.” Research Paper Series, No. 19: 1-20. Singleton, Royce A. & Amy Wolfson R. 2009. “Alcohol Consumption, Sleep, and Academic Performance among College Students.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Vol 70(3): 355-63. Singleton, Royce. 2007. Collegiate Alcohol Consumption And Academic Performance. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Vol 68(4, 548-555. Thombs, Dennis L., Olds, Scott R., Bondy , Susan J., Winchell, Janice, Baliunas, Dolly, and Rehm, Jurgen. 2009. “Undergraduate Drinking and Academic Performance: A Prospective Investigation With Objective Measures.” Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs, Vol 70 Iss 5:776-785. Wood, Philip K., Sher,Kenneth J., Erickson, Darin J., and DeBord, Kurt A. 1997. “Predicting Academic Problems In College From Freshman Alcohol Involvement.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Vol 58(2):200-210. Read More