Mindful Motives: To Drink or Not to Drink

Whether it be through movies, TV shows, or of course, lived experience, the college drinking culture retains its pervasive reputation. Propagated by the backdrop of academic stresses, camaraderie and hedonic pursuits, alcohol continues to be a popular indulgence by students in these postsecondary settings. Some may say its impulsive and reckless behaviour, while others shake it off as a once in a life-time, fun spirited activity. As the saying goes, everything in moderation. So what happens, as it so usually does, when the culture runs uncontrollably rampant? That’s when the outcomes become unbearable and harsh - excessive drinking can lead to negative implications for one’s academics, mental, and physical health.

How do we combat such a widespread issue among the college student population?

Approaches centered around simplicity, ease of access, and relevance would be critical in tackling drinking in excess and all the resultant consequences. Thus, researchers sought to explore another popular movement amongst students, this one on a more positive note, which has already proven utility in buffering overall health. How well could mindfulness skills face up to the troubles of student alcoholism?

Students at a large university answered questionnaires centering around drinking behaviours, motives, impulsivity and adherence to mindfulness. This data captured possible connections between mindfulness skills and the ability to conquer the behavioural dangers of alcoholism.

Exercising mindfulness was shown to be linked to lowered motivation to use alcohol (to cope with stress). This mental process was also related to less harsh and reckless behaviours, in face of negative feelings.

The data was refined enough to demonstrate subtle distinctions between aspects of mindfulness that were strongest to deal with particular negative behaviours related to alcohol. This means that certain mindfulness skills could be employed to resolve a certain negative consequence of alcohol. Mindfulness, as an umbrella of techniques revolving around attention to the present, can consist of skills such as observing, describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgment.

In this study, it was demonstrated that exercising acceptance without judgment diminished the connection between reckless reactions and coping by drinking. This outcome has promise for severing this damaging relation characteristic in many students with uncontrolled drinking behaviours.

Interestingly, while acceptance, acting with awareness and describing were linked to lower motivation to drink, the skill of observing was connected to increased motives to drink. The researchers believe this may be due to an increased awareness of their negative state and consequently an increased desire to mitigate it.

Overall, mindfulness appears to be a powerful tool in decreasing the frequency of consequences revolving around excessive alcohol fuelled behaviours. Teaching an acceptance without judgment approach seems to be the most promising way to shape mindfulness intervention endeavours in schools globally. With the advent of mindfulness workshops and events widespread in campuses, the fight against the perils of alcoholism holds a bright future.

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Hoyer, D., & Correia, C. J. (2020). Relations among motives, negative urgency, and mindfulness skills in

college drinkers. Addictive behaviours, 101, 106135. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106135