title: University students' knowledge of alcoholic drinks and their perception of alcohol-related harm.
abstract: A total of 371 university students were asked to estimate the amount of alcohol contained in a standard drink and to estimate the number of standard drinks contained in popular alcoholic beverages. In addition, students completed questionnaires assessing their perception of short and long term harm related to the consumption of beer, wine, spirits and pre-mixed alcopops. Results revealed that students were generally inaccurate in their estimate of alcoholic content of beverages, and national guidelines for low risk drinking. Students were also found to hold different perceptions regarding how harmful different alcoholic beverages were. While both male and female students considered spirits to be more harmful than beer, wine and pre-mixed drinks, males also believed beer to be more harmful than wine when considering the short term consequences. The pattern of beliefs reported by this sample suggest a high-risk population who are not aware of the risks they are exposing themselves to through their drinking behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. penelope.hasking@med.monash.edu.au
authors.forename: Penelope
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hasking
authors.forename: Carly
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shortell
authors.forename: Mireille
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Machalek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology; D001315:Australia; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires