Drinking Games
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Contents |
Definition
Drinking games are social activities with rules that explicitly include the consumption of a beverage (usually alcoholic). One form for these games is the drinking contest, where the quantity or speed of consumption is the criteria for winning. Another is form of game has the consumption a consequence of some performance of skill or random chance. Drinking games are often associated with informal parties of usually young people intent on heavy drinking. Drinking contests may occur in a drinking establishment, however. An apparently new trend is sponsored drinking games at bars and clubs in the U.S.1
Prevalence
Drinking Games often occur at parties or party-like settings such as "kickbacks" or any other social occurrences. They are very popular among high school and college students, as well as young adults. Drinking games encourages binge-drinking, ultimately to get drunk faster. Although, are many types drinking games with varying outcomes. Some include: speed games, thinking games, "loser buys" games, coordination games, card games, and etc. Drinking games can be looked at as a way to bond with friends, meet new people, or simply to just have fun with the people around you. Drinking games can be dangerous at times because participants often are too focused on the game itself, and not realizing their amounts of consumptions. 1
Risks
Drinking games have taken a part in underage drinking throughout the history of the world, and there are many risks that are related to playing drinking games that many people may not take the time to consider . 3 Engs and Hanson report on a study that showed that 81% of college students at one eastern university had participated in one form of drinking games or another in their lifetime. 3 Drinking games can encourage many college students to drink a sometimes risky amount, and most students at universities play these games in order to break the awkwardness at parties to get to know new people. 4 Not only do these games encourage alcohol consumption, but most drinking games have sets of rules that are designed to guarantee excessive intake . 4 Drinking game participants were nearly one and a half times more likely to binge drink, which is four drinks in a row for women and five drinks in a row for men, on drinking game day s than on non-game drinking days. 6 Lots of the time, drinking games facilitate heavy alcohol consumption as the goal of these games is to become or force someone else to become intoxicated, while refusal to drink is often followed by disapproval. 6 In a recent study, 31 percent of students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for alcohol dependence in the past 12 months, according to questionnaire-based self-reports about their drinking. 4 Pregaming, also called pre-loading, pre-bar, or pre-partying, is one method students use to get drunk, and it sometimes is done with drinking games. Pregaming is the act when a person starts drinking before he or she even leaves to go to the desired social gathering or event. Pregaming and drinking games do not always go hand in hand, but they are frequently played for the purpose of Pregaming. 5 Game playing is also associated with a wide range of alcohol-related problems. These range from personal problems, such as missing a class or having a hangover, to legal problems, such as driving under the influence or being in trouble with authorities. Researchers who have studied drinking games found that participants in such games report increased levels of drinking and drinking-related problems compared to nonplayers. 4 The goal of intoxicating others during games can lead to other negative consequences as well, including date rape. A few studies show that both male and female college students participate in drinking games regularly and that participation in drinking games are associated with heavy consumption levels. Unfortunately, some men view drinking games as a way to intoxicate women to facilitate sexual encounters. 6 The excessive use of alcohol encouraged by drinking games and pregaming in college students contributed to almost 1717 student deaths in 2001. 5
Prevention Strategies
If you are trying to avoid excessive drinking by such drinking games, there are many ways to prevent yourself from being involved. You can say you are the designated driver, leave the room when you see people trying to get a game together, simply insist that you are not interested, staying firm resisting from pressure, or simply removing yourself from such an atmosphere with drinking. As for prevention of a game, it is inevitable that they will still occur so it is useless to try to prevent a game from occurring. It is just smarter to just remove yourself from this event, rather than being disrespectful to the people around you.
References
- New York Times. As young adults drink to win, marketers join in. October 16, 2005.
- Drinking Games. May 9, 2007.
- Engs, R; Hanson, D. (1993). Drinking games and problems related to drinking among moderate and heavy drinkers. Psychological Reports, (73):115-120. Retrieved July 17 2008 from http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/articles/games.html
- Collegedrinkingprevention.gov. (2002). September 23 2005. High-Risk Drinking in College: What We Know and What We Need to Learn. Retrieved July 19 2008 from http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/NIAAACollegeMaterials/Panel01/HighRisk_03.aspx
- Borsari, B; Boyle, K; Hustad, J; Barnett, N; Tevyaw, T; Kahler C (2007). Drinking Before Drinking: Pregaming and Drinking Games in Mandated Students. Addictive Behaviors, Volume 32, Pages 1-12. Retrieved July 19 2008 from ProQuest Research Library.
- Pedersen, E; LaBrie j. Drinking Game Participation among College Students: Gender and Ethnic Implications. Addictive Behaviors, Volume 31, Pages 1-11. Retrieved July19 2008 from Proquest Research Library.
