Binge Drinking Theory

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French and Cooke (2012) both experts in the field of research have worked together to address the issue of binge drinking which is becoming increasingly normal among young adults and is defined as the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short space of time. Binge drinking has become the norm in the 21’s century and associated risks are often not looked at. Alcohol is one of the leading causes of preventable mortality in more economically developed countries. Alcohol consumption is also linked to motor accidents, inappropriate behaviour and violence (Mochdad, Marks, Stroup, & Gerberding, 2004). The study used Ajzen’s (1985, 1988, 1991) Theory of planned Behaviour (TPB) to understand binge drinking and the importance of beliefs …show more content…
The main findings of the study were that students with higher intentions to binge drink were more likely to believe that their friends approved of their drinking. These findings highlight the importance of perceived peer norms in binge drinking in young adults, and support the authors’ idea of the TPB measuring alcohol consumption and therefore being key for developing interventions to challenge the perception of social pressure to binge …show more content…
By reading the title alone readers will not know that the study used a student sample, Many researchers provide readers with information by taking a more descriptive approach (e.g. Ross, 2013; Gardner, 2012). The introduction is informative and coherently leads to the purpose of the study by giving readers information on the purpose of the study and the health implications that can be caused by binge drinking therefore making an argument into the reason why this research can contribute to intervention research. The authors have found that a drawback in majority of previous studies if that a few examine beliefs about binge drinking which is unfortunate, as Ajzen (1991) specified that beliefs are key determinants of behaviour, or intentions to perform that behaviour (Ajzen, 2007). Hence this study is of importance as it contributes to the minimal research in the area by examining salient beliefs. Norman & Conner (2006) have revealed in their study that majority of students binge drink on a weekly basis, which may be what led to the current study looking at different beliefs that underlie binge drinking on individual occasions rather than beliefs that distinguish between frequencies of drinking. The study has used questionnaires with open ended questions and rating scales. Rating scales have are also criticised for not being able

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