Alcohol use and participation in organized recreational sports among university undergraduates.

OBJECTIVE

The authors examined alcohol use among students involved in recreational sports. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study of alcohol use in which researchers separate recreational sports participants from intercollegiate athletes and examine them as a separate group of interest.

PARTICIPANTS

The authors generated a random sample of 494 students from the undergraduate population at a 4-year university.

METHODS

They used a Web-based survey to collect data and stratified and weighted the sample by residence status to more accurately reflect the population.

RESULTS

Students who participated in recreational sports used alcohol at a greater frequency and intensity than did those who were not involved in recreational sports across a variety of measures, even alongside other variables, including race, sex, and Greek membership.

CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of these findings, alcohol consumption among those participating in recreational sports appears to be an area worthy of consideration in future research.