Table 18: Reasons for drinking by gender

Reasons for drinking

Males 

Females

Total 

%

%

%

More positive

Sociable

71.0

65.8

67.8*

Enjoy it

69.1

74.5

72.5*

Relax

49.4

44.6

46.4*

Drink with meal

17.1

28.7

24.3*

More negative

Forget worries

11.8

12.4

12.2

Anxious/depressed

4.7

4.7

4.7

Lonely

5.0

2.3

3.3*

Be polite

5.4

2.2

3.4*

Need to

2.2

1.4

1.6

* significant between gender (p<.01)

To evaluate attitudes and perceptions about alcohol, students were asked to

respond to four statements using a scale from strongly agree to strongly

disagree and don't know.  The statement with the highest agreement was

 anyone can become alcohol dependent  where 82% agreed. Almost three 

quarters (73%) of all students were in agreement that  anyone might

become violent if they have too much to drink . Over one third (39%) of

students thought that  when someone is drunk, they should not be

considered as responsible for their actions as when they are sober . One in

five students (19%) thought that  it doesn't matter how much you drink as

long as you don't show the effects.  

Female students were more likely to agree that violence can result from too

much drink and that anyone can become alcohol dependent in comparison

to their male counterparts (Table 19). A higher proportion of male students

(23%) were more likely to agree that the amount of alcohol an individual

drinks doesn't matter provided you don't show the effects.  This perception

was more evident in first and second year students.

39