Not drinking alcohol during the first month of the new year: students are not exactly enthusiastic about Dry January. Researchers in Nijmegen and Tilburg hope to change that with a targeted campaign.
The facts are well known. Regular alcohol consumption causes a great deal of harm in both the short and long term. It disrupts sleep, increases the risk of cancer, can cause weight gain and brain damage, or lead to stomach and liver problems. And then there are the negative consequences for a person’s social and professional functioning.
More and more people are aware of these risks and take an annual break from alcohol. During that period they often feel fitter and clearer-headed, research shows, and afterwards they frequently continue to limit their alcohol consumption.
Students—long notorious for their exuberant drinking—however, participate only minimally in campaigns such as Dry January. That is why Professor of Psychopathology Jacqueline Vink and PhD candidate Nina Hoffland are working together with fellow researchers Andrea Rozema and Annelien Esselink from Tilburg University on a Dry January campaign tailored specifically to this group.
Why is it important for students to drink less?
Nina Hoffland: “Because students still drink a lot. Every year, as part of the Healthy Student Life project, we distribute a questionnaire among Radboud University students. It shows that 85 percent of all students have consumed alcohol in the past six months.”
Jacqueline Vink: “About 19 percent of men and 13 percent of women engage in so-called binge drinking twice a week. That means men drink more than six glasses of alcohol and women more than four glasses within two hours. Risky alcohol use is also high among students: in 2023, 33 percent of men and 19 percent of women fell into that category.”
Hoffland: “Many students find it difficult to go against the drinking culture. ‘It’s just very much part of it,’ they say. At the same time, in the conversations and interviews we’ve conducted with students, we notice that they are increasingly critical of that drinking culture as well.”
Are the risks for young people different from those for adults?
Vink: “Young people face the same health risks as adults anyway. Drinking affects their sleep and ability to concentrate, and therefore also their academic performance. On top of that, their brains are still developing. The brain continues to develop until about age 25, so alcohol is actually even more harmful for young people than for those over 25.
“Because of the drinking culture and the uninhibited behavior that comes with it, students are also much more likely to be involved in incidents such as vandalism, boundary-crossing behavior, aggression, and violence.”
What amount of alcohol is still acceptable, and when is it too much?
Vink: “In the past, guidelines stated that women could drink 14 glasses per week and men 21. We now call that ‘excessive drinking.’ The current advice is: don’t drink. And if you do, no more than one glass per day. The standard has changed quite a bit in recent years.”
What do you hope to achieve with a student-focused Dry January campaign?
Hoffland: “Drinking really is the social norm among students. You’re looked at strangely if you don’t join in. Saying ‘no’ on your own is difficult when the group is drinking, which is why not drinking for a month is easier if you do it together.”
Vink: “We hope that during that month students discover that it’s actually okay to say no to alcohol. That they find out you can also have a fun night out drinking soft drinks, and that they notice they feel more energetic and can concentrate better.
“From scientific research abroad, we know that when students participate in such a campaign, they not only notice a difference during that month, but also become much more aware of their alcohol use afterwards and drink less.”
What will the student campaign look like?
Vink: “It’s a separate component of the national IkPas campaign, which tens of thousands of Dutch people participate in every year and which is coordinated by the Positive Lifestyle Foundation. They have already started active promotion on various social media channels. In the IkPas app, alongside the regular Dry January campaign, there is now also a separate challenge for students. Participants regularly receive information about what an alcohol break does to their bodies, as well as motivational messages to help them stick with it.”
Hoffland: “Of course, we hope students all over the country will take part, but here in Nijmegen we’re organizing extra activities, such as a Blue Monday Campus Run and a Dry January BODYBALANCE class at the sports center. Students who organize an original Dry January activity can win prizes. And in Tilburg and Leiden, we’ve encouraged student organizations and associations to organize their own activities.”
Are you also conducting scientific research?
Vink: “Students who sign up via the app complete a short questionnaire before they start, immediately after the month ends, and again a few months later. We’re very curious about how students experience it, whether they are successful, and whether it also affects their alcohol consumption in the longer term. Ultimately, we hope to contribute to reducing excessive alcohol use among students.”
Do you yourselves ever drink alcohol?
Vink: “I haven’t drunk alcohol for years. I used to have a drink occasionally, but I don’t react well to it. That makes it very easy not to drink, because I don’t get much pleasure from it.”
Hoffland: “I do drink alcohol. But since I started this project, I’m much more conscious about it. At first I didn’t think much about it, but now I see drinking more as a deliberate choice, with consequences for the next day—like feeling less fit after an evening with alcohol. That makes me choose not to drink more often.”
Are you also participating in Dry January yourself?
Laughing: “Yes, because I’m kind of obliged to because of my research, of course. But I’m also genuinely curious to see what happens if I stop for a whole month.”
Text: Doetie Talsma. This article was previously published on Voxweb.