Your parents are further away from you than ever before. You no longer have to take classes in the basement of Clemens or wait for a parking spot on a cold winter morning. You already know studying abroad is going to be the highlight of your college experience, and it only seems natural that you live it up to its fullest.
A recent University of Washington study published in the October issue of Psychology and Addictive Behaviors shows that students studying abroad demonstrate an increase in drinking activity. The study examined a sample of students from the University of Washington, where overall drinking while abroad was reported to have increased by 105 percent.
However, the increase in drinking also seems to be paired with an increase in responsibility. Students tend to drink at culturally acceptable levels rather than binge drink.
"Many cultures incorporate beer or wine into daily life with meals, and students who abuse this will be seen as uncultured and may be excluded from interacting with locals," said Melissa Polasik Rybarczyk, assistant vice provost for UB's Study Abroad Programs.
The need to fit in with the host country's culture is an important factor that influences drinking decisions.
"This is a multi-factorial issue," said Paul Stasiewicz, senior research scientist and clinic director of UB's Research Institute on Addictions. "You may need to be commensurate with cultural habits, learn how [the host culture] lives."
Jessica Crowley, a junior business major, is beginning her study abroad experience in Australia in early February.
"I want a full experience of the life and culture in Australia and I know
drinking is a major part of it," Crowley said.
Safety and awareness of laws are also a concern when combining alcohol with a foreign country.
"[The study abroad program has] a pre-departure orientation which includes information on health and safety," Rybarczyk said. "We address this topic in that section. We treat our students as adults and try to educate them on the importance of being responsible with alcohol."
Students also make sure to prepare themselves for their new settings.
"I'm not going to know the different rules and what's tolerated in Australia," Crowley said. "Here [in Buffalo], we know what we can get away with and what the police look for."
The study also found that expectations about drinking prior to going abroad also influence how alcohol is handled. Individual perceptions on drinking may determine how drinking is handled when studying in a foreign country.
"If students have a responsible attitude toward drinking before they study abroad, then they're likely to continue this while abroad," Rybarczyk said. "We try to reinforce this attitude to ensure that students have the best experience possible when they study abroad."
Students are also reminded that if they endanger themselves or the program, they may be removed and subject to discipline with the university.
Students may look forward to the new drinking freedom but are aware and anticipate that it needs to be treated reasonably.
"I hear [in Australia] there are basically more bars than restaurants," Crowley said. "I think I will probably be drinking more often but not as much [as I do here]."
Further research is needed to make any definite conclusions regarding the study's findings.
"This is an area which hasn't had much research, so we have to be careful about making broad generalizations based on this study," Rybarczyk said.
Long-term effects of the reported increase in drinking also need to be examined.
"Short-term follow ups showed students drank more than normal when they return home," Stasiewicz said. "But further research is needed to see if drinking levels return to normal and what other consequences there may be."
The study sample included 177 University of Washington students who were surveyed before and after their semesters abroad.
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