Biomedical subjects

R C Engs

Publications and source records attributed to R C Engs.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1995

The association of alcohol consumption with self-reported illness in university students.

Many reports over the years have indicated an association between alcohol consumption and infectious illness among chronic heavy drinkers; however, many patients in these studies have been chronically ill. Thus the question of whether alcohol can appreciably influence immunity in humans and affect the incidence of infectious diseases remains largely unanswered. For this study over 1,100 undergraduate students from a general education course at a large midwestern university were surveyed. Students were asked about their drinking habits and acute health problems. Analyses of their self-reports showed no increase in acute health problems or upper respiratory infections in students drinking between one and 21 drinks per week. However, students drinking 28 or more alcoholic drinks per week had significantly more health problems in the aggregate and those drinking more than 22 drinks per week had more upper respiratory infections than other students including nondrinkers. It was concluded that excessive alcohol intake increased the risk of respiratory infections and acute illnesses in these students, but more moderate alcohol consumption had little effect on the risk for these health problems.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

The Student Alcohol Questionnaire: an updated reliability of the drinking patterns, problems, knowledge, and attitude subscales.

The reliabilities of the Quantity/Frequency Patterns, Problems Resulting from Drinking, Knowledge of Alcohol, and Attitudes Toward Drinking subscales of the Student Alcohol Questionnaire were calculated. The Spearman-Brown reliability coefficients of the subscales were .84, .89, .85, and .27, respectively. Values of Cronbach alpha for the four subscales were .86, .92, .86, and .55, respectively.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Drinking games and problems related to drinking among moderate and heavy drinkers.

The playing of drinking games, the quantity-frequency of alcohol consumption, and various problems related to drinking were assessed among a national sample of 3,830 alcohol consuming students from 58 American colleges and universities during the 1990-1991 academic year. Among Light-Moderate drinkers, a significantly higher proportion of students who had played a drinking game experienced 15 of 17 drinking-related problems. On the other hand, among Heavy drinkers there was little difference between game and nongame players. A higher percentage of game players had experienced five of the problems. Generally, for many problems, more than twice as many Heavy drinkers among both game and nongame players had exhibited the problem compared to more moderate drinkers. It was concluded that game playing appeared to increase problems related to alcohol primarily among more moderate drinkers whereas those who were heavy drinkers were exhibiting more problems regardless of their game-playing status. Education about the effect of game playing among students who are moderate drinkers should be addressed.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

College students' drinking problems: a national study, 1982-1991.

The drinking problems of college students from every state in the continental United States were examined in 1982 (n = 4,405), 1985 (n = 3,453), 1988 (n = 4,343), and 1991 (n = 3,907). Observed were increases in 10 of the 17 problems studied and decreases in four; three of the decreases were in driving-related problems.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

The drinking patterns of American and Polish university students: a cross-national study.

A study of 3375 American and 1408 Polish university students was accomplished to test the hypotheses that cultural differences influence drinking patterns and beverage preferences between countries. Using the same questionnaire in both samples, the results revealed that significantly (P less than 0.001) more drinks per week were consumed by both Polish male (24.9) and female (15.2) students compared to American male (15.0) and female (7.6) students. Significantly (P less than 0.001) more wine was consumed by Polish (8.7) compared to the American (0.8) students. American female students consumed more beer than Polish female students. There was no difference between beer and spirits consumption between American and Polish males and Polish students in latter school years consumed more alcohol compared to students in the first years of school. It was concluded that the samples of students in this study reflected their cultures in terms of drinking patterns and beverage preference.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Resurgence of a new "clean living" movement in the United States.

During the late 19th century, a "clean living" movement emerged in the U.S. dominated by efforts to control alcohol consumption, tobacco use, and females' reproductive health. The movement also advocated proper diet, exercise and physical fitness, pure water, and moderation in caffeine and red meat consumption. Remarkably similar concerns have emerged again in contemporary American society. The current "movement" lacks central organization. Rather, it reflects a loosely related coalition of single-issue advocacy groups. Yet, the focus seems remarkably similar to the 19th century movement--legislative limitation of individual choice regarding personal health behavior, particularly with substance use and females' reproductive health. This article reviews the 19th century movement, describes aspects of the contemporary movement, and offers implications and recommendations for school health professionals.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1990

Influence of religion and culture on drinking behaviours: a test of hypotheses between Canada and the USA.

American Roman Catholic and mainstream Protestant students consume more alcohol and have more alcohol abuse problem compared to Canadian students within the same religious groups. Among abstinent oriented Protestants there was no difference in regards to alcohol consumption or problems related to drinking between the countries. For Jews there were mixed results with Americans exhibiting similar consumption rates but reporting more problems related to drinking compared to the Canadians. Among this sample it was concluded that religious norms have a greater influence in cohesive religious groups while cultural norms are more influential among less cohesive groups. The results also support the Canadian 'Mosaic' and American 'Melting Pot' assumption.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Family background of alcohol abuse and its relationship to alcohol consumption among college students: an unexpected finding.

The purpose of this study was to determine the possible association between positive family background of alcohol abuse (having a parent or grandparent who sometimes or often drank too much) and the amount of alcohol consumed per week among college students. It was additionally to determine the possible differences between students with positive, compared to students with negative, family backgrounds of alcohol abuse in regards to drinking patterns, using a survey instrument that indirectly measures family background for alcohol abuse. For this cross-sectional study, a quota sample of 971 college students from all four regions of the United States was selected. Results revealed no association between family history and mean amount of alcohol consumed per week for the total sample (r = .007), or for men (r = .04) or women (r = .02). Curve analysis indicated a slightly positively skewed curve for the total group and also for male and female students. A t test and chi-square analysis found no significant difference between positive and negative family backgrounds and mean amount of alcohol consumed or drinking patterns. Among those with positive family backgrounds there was no clustering on a scatter plot for either heavy or light amounts of alcohol consumed. The results showed remarkable similarity in alcohol consumption and drinking patterns between students who were classified as having a positive, as opposed to negative, family background. It was concluded that having a positive family background for heavy drinking was not associated with either light or heavy alcohol consumption among this national sample of college students.

Adult↗

PubMed1989