Families’ Effects of Alcohol Use Disorders on College Students

Ashleigh Dorman

College students choose to partake in numerous activities, including attending class, choosing what food to eat, and deciding what to do with their spare time. Some students choose to spend their Friday nights watching a movie with friends while others choose to go out and party. The partygoers that decide to drink might do so because they want others to like them, because they just want to, or because alcoholism is a part of their family history. Doctors speculate that the college students that have family members who have a history with alcohol are more likely to drink alcohol. This hypothesis would make sense if it were true because the students probably grew up seeing alcohol in the house and now see it as a part of their lives.

Along with students’ families having alcohol use disorders, AUD, doctors also believe other prominent people in their lives that drink increase the chances of the students obtaining these disorders. “Specific genes that influence the development of alcohol-related problems have been identified…” (Pulido, 66) Some scientists have found evidence showing that biology does have an effect on the increase of AUD among college students whose families have AUD history. The younger generation tends to mimic their elders’ actions, choices, and behaviors. It all comes down to the environment the child is raised in. If the child is brought up with the idea that drinking alcohol is not only okay, but it is also okay to drink it in excessive amounts, then that child is going to be more prone to following in their parents’ footsteps because they think it’s what everyone is supposed to do.

Another contributing factor to the increase of college students having AUD is the visual images pertaining to alcohol students see on a daily basis, whether that be through their parents or through television or advertisements. Upon seeing these pictures doctors say, “…alcohol advertisements may be an important factor in the maintenance and progression of alcohol use for youth.” (Pulido, 66) The experiment explained in the article, Heavy drinking relates to positive valence ratings of alcohol cues, basically consisted of 227 participants who reviewed an array of pictures and then answered questions about valence picture ratings. “Of the 227 participants, 14% indicated a FH, 62% reported exposure to problem drinking models and 14% scored in the elevated range for depressed mood.” (Pulido 69)

In the end, the experiment did not support the initial hypothesis; the least amount of participants in the survey were influenced by having family history of alcohol use disorders. It was interesting to see that the students whose families had backgrounds of AUD did not really have a strong effect on them choosing to drink. I would have thought the students would have chosen to be around alcohol so I would have had the same hypothesis as the doctors because it would make sense to keep that familiar presence in their life. However, from this particular experiment, the main reason students choose to drink is because of other people in their life putting the image of alcohol into their minds.

Pulido, Carmen, Alex Mok, Sandra A. Brown, and Susan F. Tapert. "Heavy Drinking Relates to Positive Valence Ratings of Alcohol Cues." Addiction Biology 14.1 (2009): 65-72.