Alcohol, smoking and stress among university students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine university students' smoking and drinking behaviour in relation to stress. Respondents were students enrolled at the University of Malta,recruited through random sampling.205 students from various faculties completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS),the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ) and the Smoking Motivation Questionnaire which was divided into two sections, assessing smoking motivation and smoking urge.The Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to determine whether a relationship exists between alcohol,smoking and stress.Demographic variables such as gender,age and relationship status were compared using the One-Way Anova.The major assumption in this study was that alcohol use and cigarette smoking are linked to perceived stress.All Pearson Correlation Coefficients were positive which implies that the perceived stress score is positively related to all the alcohol and smoking variables.These results demonstrate that indeed those who drink alcohol have higher levels of perceived stress.This is also true for those who are motivated and have an urge to smoke,suggesting that alcohol and cigarettes act as tension reduction agents.