An Investigation into Alcohol Use among Female Undergraduate Psychology Students at the University of Limpopo, South Africa

This paper investigates alcohol use among female undergraduate students at the University of Limpopo, South Africa using a cross-sectional survey. The sample was 700 female undergraduate psychology students. The self-administered questionnaire consisted of demographic information, the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test – revised, five questions from the Protection Motivation Theory, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification self-report test. One hundred and thirty questionnaires were completed (19%) of the first-year students, 27.1 percent had attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 22.9 percent had lost a job, 16.7 percent have liver problems, 18.8 percent had been arrested for drinking and driving, and twenty-five percent had been in trouble at the university. There was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.00) between respondents across different years of study for these results. First-year respondents had the most alcohol-related problems. Alcohol use in a significant proportion of female students is concerning. Many participants had not considered stopping using alcohol and would not change their drinking behaviour.