Sport-Type Differences in Alcohol Use Among Intercollegiate Athletes

Risk Factors for Alcohol Abuse Among College Athletes

“…Martin found that female student athletes drank mainly for social reasons, thus supporting the findings of the Martens, Watson, et al (2006) study and the idea that the self-schemas and self-identity associated with the specific team play a large role in the drinking behavior of college athletes. Brenner and Swanwik (2007) conducted a survey of 720 athletes from team and individual sports across Division I, II, and III of the NCAA.…”

“…The NCAA (2006) conducted a survey from 1993 to 2005 and found significant differences in alcohol consumption across a variety of men's and women's sports. Additional researchers have found similar results (e.g., Brenner & Swanwik, 2007;Martens, Watson, & Beck, 2006;O'Brien & Lyons, 2000). The finding that alcohol consumption varies across sport type emphasizes the need to further investigate the role of sport type in alcohol consumption among college athletes.…”

“…Research has consistently shown that college athlete drinking behavior differs across sport type (Brenner & Swanwik, 2007;Martens, Watson, et al, 2006;Martin, 1998;NCAA, 2006;O'Brien & Lyons, 2000;Zamboanga et al, 2008). It has also been supported that the self-schemas related to each sport type are a significant reason for these differences (Brenner & Swanwik, 2007;Martens, Watson, et al, 2006;Martin, 1998;Zamboanga et al, 2008). Zamboanga et al (2008) identified that drinking games might play a role in why there are differences across sport types.…”

“…Martens, Watson, et al (2006) found that social (bond with friends) and enhancement (gives you pleasant feeling) drinking motives partially mediated the relationship between sport type and alcohol consumption in college athletes. Specifically, they indicated that a positive relationship existed between social/enhancement motives and binge drinking, average number of drinks per week and number of days drinking in the past 30 days.…”

“…Martens, Watson, et al (2006) looked at 340 intercollegiate student athletes from two NCAA Division I universities. Swimming/diving athletes reported "more heavy episodic drinking than athletes from all other sports, averaged more drinks per week than athletes from track/cross country, and reported more days drinking in the past 30 days than athletes from the sports of soccer and track/cross country" (Martens, Watson, et al, 2006, p. 142).…”