Alcohol and Nicotine Addiction in College Students
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Addiction has become more of an issue among college students. With the increasing amount of alcohol and drug prevalence across campuses, it is important to understand addiction and how to help our students.
What is Addiction?
Alcohol addiction is when you can no longer control your drinking and begin needing to drink more alcohol in order to get the same effect. Another characteristic is beginning to feel withdrawal symptoms when you do not drink or decrease alcohol intake (Mayo Clinic, 2022).
This addiction can be split into two main categories: alcohol use and heavy alcohol use. Binge alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks for males or four or more drinks for females on at least one day in the past 30 days (Lally & Valentine-French, 2024). Heavy alcohol use is defined as binge drinking on the same occasion on five or more days in the past 30 days; all heave alcohol users are also binge alcohol users (Lally & Valentine-French, 2024).
Nicotine dependence is when you need nicotine and cannot stop using it. Nicotine produces a pleasing effect, but since it is temporary, you reach for another cigarette or vape (Mayo Clinic, 2022).
College students are also involved with concurrent polydrug use. This is the use of 2 or more drugs in the same time period. Students make up a large population of individuals with nicotine and alcohol consumption, as well as both at the same time. Addiction when using these substances is already a risk, so the use of both substances together can increase their health risks and make it harder to stop.
Symptoms and Causes of Addiction
For alcohol addiction, causes may include genetic, psychological, social, and environmental factors which can have a heavy influence on how drinking alcohol affects the body and behavior (Mayo Clinic, 2022).
According to the Mayo Clininc, some symptoms of alcohol addiction are:
- Being unable to control your alcohol intake
- Feeling cravings and/or urges to drink alcohol
- Continuing to drink alcohol even when you know it is causing problems within different areas of your life.
- Giving up or reducing social and/or work activities and hobbies to use alcohol
- Experiencing withdrawal symptoms
For nicotine dependence, situations/causes that may influence someone to want to smoke may include (Mayo Clinic, 2022):
- Drinking coffee or taking breaks at work
- Talking on the phone
- Drinking alcohol
- Driving your car
- Spending time with friend who may smoke
Some other risk factors of nicotine dependence may be age, genetics, parents and peers, depression or other mental illnesses, and substance use (Mayo Clinic, 2022). According to the Mayo Clinic, some symptoms of nicotine dependence are:
- Not being able to stop smoking
- Having withdrawal symptoms when trying to stop or reduce smoking
- You keep smoking despite health problems
- Giving up on social activities
The risk of addiction in college students
Alcohol and nicotine addiction have many health risks involved. For college students who are actively around these substances, it is important to be aware of the damage they can cause. Frequent use of alcohol can cause harm to our liver, nervous system, cognitive abilities, and heart along with many other areas of our bodies.
The Mayo Clinic discusses specific health conditions that are commonly seen in continual use of alcohol. They explain that over time, heavy consumption of alcohol can cause destruction and scarring of our liver tissue (Mayco Clinic, 2022). As well as increasing the risk of heart failure or stroke because alcohol causes our blood vessels to constrict, which increases our blood pressure. Alcohol is a depressant, which affects our central nervous system, and the neurotransmitters involved. Excessive use can cause disordered thinking, dementia, and short-term memory loss according to the Mayo Clinic (Mayo clinic, 2022).
Similarly, nicotine causes health risks with continual use. They explain how smoking increases the risk of cancer in many areas of the body; and overall smoking causes 30% of all cancer deaths (Mayo Clinic, 2022). Smoking also increases the risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke (Mayo Clinic, 2022). These are life threatening health risks that are influenced by smoking, along with becoming dependent on nicotine. The act of smoking and vaping can eventually destroy your gums and teeth (Mayo Clinic, 2022). While not life threatening, it becomes a painful and disabling hobby.
Specifically in college students, falling to addiction can cause educational risks as well. When consumed by addiction, students lose motivation which will result in lower academic achievement. The article, The Impact of Addiction on Academic Performance of Students: the Case of Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia, did a cross-sectional study where 71.8% of students in the sample were involved in addiction. Their results showed that addiction and academic performance were dependent, and addicted students were associated with poor academic achievement more than the non-addicted (Bojago & Wendimu, 2021). Continual loss of motivation and failure to succeed in classes can lead to students dropping out or losing scholarships. Student athletes could be kicked off sports teams for bad grades or for testing positive on a drug test. College students involved in addiction is not only a health risk but also risking their education.
Addiction has many motivating factors
The idea of the college experience surrounds many students with drugs and alcohol. More specifically, students drinking at college events or using alcohol and nicotine in social gatherings. There are many motivating factors that contribute to students' use of these substances. The continual use of these substances also puts students at risk for addiction. The pleasure theory consists of our wants and likes as humans. Wanting is a motivational state that comes from an actual need for something. Liking is a motivational state that comes from experiencing pleasure. Wanting and liking typically go hand-in-hand, but the two motivational experiences can diverge, and this is what typically occurs during addiction (Reeve, 2018, p. 56). If a student is experiencing addiction, then the drive theory is another motivation factor towards their substance use. In addiction the body will need the substance, so we are driven/motivated to use the substance again to maintain our body's homeostasis (Reeve, 2018, p. 56). Other motivating factors for students can be broken down into intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
Intrinsic Factors
Intrinsic factors are internal forces that motivate us to participate in something. Intrinsic factors influence addiction in vaping among college students. The article, Evidence from an fmri study that dessert-flavored e-cigarettes engage taste-related, but not smoking-related, brain circuitry for female daily smokers, shows that fruity vape flavors can motivate smoking addiction because these flavors trigger taste and olfactory signals in the brain. This is interesting because it shows that the flavored nicotine products that individuals are addicted to are also triggering taste areas of our brains which adds another aspect to the addiction process (Hobkirk et al, 2022).
Intrinsic factors are also motivating for alcohol addiction in students. The article, Alcohol demand in college students: The roles of athletic involvement and gender, talks about how athletes are more susceptible to alcohol addiction because of the prevalence of alcohol with sporting events. Alcohol is easily available, and athletes use drinking to cope with athletic anxiety and stress (Kurnellas et al, 2024).
Extrinsic Factors
Extrinsic factors, from our environment, are huge factors that influence alcohol use. The article, Alcohol demand in college students: The roles of athletic involvement and gender, shows that binge drinking was higher in college athletes than typical college students. They found that “42% of athletes reported binge drinking, as well as 25% reported doing something they regretted after drinking, 22% reported risky sexual behavior, and 28% reported blacking out” (Kurnellas et al, 2024, p. 55). Specifically, student athletes or involvement with athletic events have their own factors that influence alcohol consumption and possible addiction. Athletic events like “tailgating” or celebrating after a game often have alcohol present. Many students will drink because they are around others that are drinking. Students report “feeling like an outsider” when not participating with their peers in drinking practices. Nicotine dependence was also shown to be higher because of the use of vaping in social gatherings (Hobkirk et al, 2022).
What we can do to reduce addiction in colleges
We interviewed Helen Decorte, a nurse practitioner at a pain management clinic with a background in drug addiction. We asked her what factors she believed contributed most to addiction in this demographic. She expressed the idea of the “college experience” and that it is a typical experience for college students to experiment during their time in college. The biggest factors she expressed were social pressures from others engaging in substances. Which is why she believes education and resources available are important. Her personal experience working in addiction she stated the best resources for college students with addictions would be having help accessible in colleges. She mentioned colleges having substance use information given to incoming freshman to educate them as they are entering college life. As well as educating students on the importance of leaning on our relationships with friends and family for help.
As well as using close relationships to lean on, our education system needs to provide information on the importance of addiction. Family members of an addicted person can only do so much without the help of intervention from professionals. In the article, Supporting Students in Recovery on College Campuses: Opportunities for Student Affairs Professionals, they talk about how even with the heavy prevalence of addiction in colleges, they fail to have as many resources and support as they should. They found that although there is support for current alcohol issues with students they do not have as many for recovering addicts. They stated, “Students with active problems generally require some type of intervention to reduce consumption to safer levels and prevent current patterns of use from progressing to more serious levels of involvement. Students in recovery have a history of problematic substance use and are working to maintain a life of sobriety” (Perron et al, 2011). This article helps show that colleges need to take better action in giving students the support and resources they need for active and recovering addiction.
Helen Decorte also talked about the importance of intervention once substance use is already an issue. She spoke about how many campuses have mental health help available for students. As well as mental health, colleges need to implement resources to help students who are experiencing addiction. They can help them with a clinician who has trained in substance use disorders or refer them somewhere that can give them the help they need.
Conclusion
Alcohol and nicotine addiction can cause serious health issues for any person. Students who are experiencing addiction are also facing educational risks that can alter the rest of their lives. This study shows the prevalence of addiction among college students, and it is important to expand our knowledge and provide helpful assistance to prevent these individuals from engaging in substance use.
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