Experiences of Slovak University students with on campus alcohol policy

Abstract

Abstract:The vast majority of studies focusing on alcohol consumption among university students are based on US and Canadian samples and employ a quantitative approach. Universities from the US and Canada also have a longer tradition in implementing alcohol policies. The alcohol policies at universities in Slovakia are mostly non-systematic and often not implemented in practice. The objective of this study was to explore Slovak university students' experiences towards alcohol policy on their campuses using a qualitative approach. Eight focus group discussions were conducted among university students (n=64; 38 female; 2011; Slovakia). The key questions were (1) "Is there a policy concerning alcohol on your campus and what are the consequences of not complying with it?", and (2) "How should an on-campus alcohol policy be developed and what should it include?" The students knew of few, if any, rules concerning alcohol. Student participation was considered important in policy development and implementation. Slovak universities should be more active in forming alcohol policies. A preventative policy which actively involves students was emphasized as optimal.

Perception of High Alcohol Use of Peers Is Associated With High Personal Alcohol Use in First-Year University Students in Three Central and Eastern European Countries

“…Several studies already used gender-specific feedback which was found to be more effective to reduce alcohol use in students (Neighbors et al, 2010) or at least in sub-groups such as female students . Moreover, a qualitative study conducted among University students from the Slovak Republic showed that students preferred interactive prevention approaches that directly involve students (Salonna, Vendelová, Benka, & Bačíková, 2012). Therefore, the communication strategy of social norms messages should be carefully considered, possibly by giving feedback to small groups of students or using the web to deliver individual normative feedback messages instead of mass media campaigns.…”

Students’ drinking behavior and perceptions towards introducing alcohol policies on university campus in Denmark: a focus group study

“…The study is part of the international informal research initiative “on Campus Alcohol Policy (oCAP)” which aims to explore students’ perspectives of on campus alcohol policies in Slovakia, Belgium, Hungary, France and Denmark. Results from Slovakia have been published earlier and it is intended to compare the results across the participating countries [ 26 ]. The data collections and analyses in all participating countries follow the same design, which has been developed jointly in the research group.…”