WALWAL NOW, ARAL LATER: The Effect of

Alcohol Consumption to Mechanical

Engineering Students’ Academic
Performance

Polytechnic University of the Philippines

College of Social Sciences and Development
Department of Psychology

Alcantara, Justine Louise

Cenina, Antoniette
Costibolo, Rochelle
Dela Cruz, Chrisvan Louie
Ebol, Debbie Anne Marie
Fernandez, Steven Saluper
Tan, Jose Karlo

Submitted to:
Mrs. Alvendia
 CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTINGS

Introduction

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

Underlying Proximate Causal

Outcome
Factors factors pathways

• Alcohol • Friends • Modelling • Grades

Consumption • Family • Imitation • Attendance
• Learning • Study Habits

Social learning theory focuses on learning in a social context .It emphasizes the

importance of observing and modeling behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of

others (Bandura, 1977). Some of the principle that the social learning theory follows are

people can learn by observing the behaviors of other. It is said that people begin and

develop pattern of drinking behaviour starting from early adolescence. Both drinking

initiation and establishment of drinking patterns are influenced to varying degrees by

genetic as well as environmental factors. The environmental factors shared by siblings,

include not only household environmental characteristics such as family structure and

status, parenting practices, and home atmosphere but also environmental influences

exerted through schools, neighborhoods, and communities. For some behaviors and at

some ages, the nonfamilial experiences that children share with their peers at school

and in their neighborhoods may be more salient than the household influences they

share with their families in their homes. Drinking in early adolescence may be one such

behavior.

Next is that the learning can occur without a change in behavior. Behaviorist

believe that the learning can occur with the permanent change in behavior in contrast

with the social learning theorists says.

Last is that the cognitive (Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring

knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.) plays a

role in learning. Awareness and expectation in the future reinforcement or punishment

have a major effect in the behavior that the person exhibits. Studies conducted in 1994–

1996 showed that people of both sexes and all races and ethnic groups—with the

exception of Hispanic women— displayed a strong inverse relationship between

education and heavy alcohol consumption (NCHS, 1998a). Generally, heavy drinking

tends to decrease with education, and moderate alcohol use increases with education

(NCHS, 1998a; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 1993). In

1994–1996, African American men and women with less than a high school education

were almost twice as likely to report heavy alcohol use as were those who had more

than a high school education (NCHS, 1998a). White men with high school diplomas

were 20% more likely to report heavy alcohol use than were those with more education.
White women with less than a high school diploma were 40% more likely to report

heavy drinking than were women with more education.

Statement of the Problem

*ISESEND NI TINE YUNG S.O.P

Hypothesis

There is a significant relationship between the alcohol consumption and the academic

performance (class attendance, general weighted average, and study habits) of the

PUP Mechanical Engineering students.

Scope and Limitation

This study was proposed to add to the available knowledge about alcohol use,

specifically the correlation between alcohol consumption to academic performance.

Additionally, the study allowed for the findings from previous case studies of alcohol

consumption to be expanded. Most studies in the area of alcohol consumption have

been qualitative, however this study utilized survey data to conduct a quantitative

analysis. This chapter will included the research questions that guided this investigation,

a population, sample size and sampling technique, a description of the respondents of

the study and the research instrument, a discussion of the data gathering procedure
and a description of the statistical treatment of the data.The scope of the study involves

around the relationship of alcohol consumption in the academic performance of

mechanical engineering students. The students included in this study are from

Polytechnic University of the Philippines College of Engineering. However, the limitation

of this research is that it only revolves around a specific group of individuals which are

the students of the department of mechanical engineering in PUP.

Significance of the Study (FOR FUTURE RESEARCHER)

This study will benefit college students who drink to realize what factors contribute to

their drinking habits and to identify the effect of those factors to their drinking behavior.

As for those who do not drink, this will help them to better understand the drinking

phenomena of those students who drink. This will also serve as awareness to the

parents as to why there are students who drink alcoholic beverage.

 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Walid El Ansari, Christiane Stock, and Claire Mills, alcohol consumption showed

negative associations with motivation for and subjectively achieved academic

performance. University alcohol prevention activities might have positive impact on

students’ academic success. Males were positively associated with all five alcohol

consumption measures. Age was negatively associated with three alcohol consumption

measures. While students´ importance of good grades was negatively associated with

three alcohol consumption measures, academic performance in comparison with peers

was negatively associated with heavy episodic drinking. Actual module mark was not

associated with any alcohol consumption measure. Singleton and Wolfston (2009)

examined alcohol consumption, amount of sleep, and academic performance. The

authors show the relationship between alcohol use and sleep, alcohol use and

academic performance, and sleep and academic performance. The participants from

Northeastern were 89% white, 98% ranged between the ages of 18-22 years, and 82%

lived on campus. In short, they hypothesized and concluded that students who drink

more alcohol maintain poor sleep patterns, which negatively affects academic

performance.

Gillespie et al. (2007) examined alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use among

college students. The authors found that two out of five college students in the United

States are binge drinkers. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there were
more than 1.25 million arrests for drug abuse violations in 2004 (Gillespie et al., 2007).

Alcohol and drug use can lead to poor decision making, like breaking the law, sexual

abuse, getting in fights, etc. Of the respondents, 92.4% were white and the average age

was 22.3 years. This study found that a little more than 68% reported using alcohol

and/or drugs during the past year. Gillespie et al. (2007) looked at how many times a

student drank alcohol in a week which then determined how many alcoholic drinks they

consume on average.

Butler et al. (2011) examined the relationship between drinking and academic

demands. “National surveys indicate that 40% of college students binge drink regularly,

and the rate of binge drinking appears to be increasing” (2011: 359-360). The results of

this study suggest that students drank 38% less when they had an exam or paper due

the next day. Results also indicated that a student’s current day academic demands are

related to a 30% decrease in their current day alcohol consumption. This research

demonstrates that some students are not reducing their alcohol intake even when they

have academic demands to meet the next day.

Aertgeerts and Buntinx (2002) examined the relationship of alcohol abuse among first-

year students and their academic performance. Irresponsible drinking patterns among

college students in the United States range between 7% and 17%. This study was

conducted using a questionnaire given to 3518 first-year students who attended this

specific college. Aertgeerts and Buntinx (2002) found that 14.2% of the students were

identified as having alcohol abuse or dependence, and nearly one-third of the students

passed their exams on the first attempt. Results suggest that 49.7% of male students

and 48.9% of female students went on to continue their second year of school. It is
potentially concerning that only about half of the freshman class succeeded and moved

onto their sophomore year. This may indicate that alcohol consumption is a major social

issue among college students.

According to DeSimone and Wolaver (2005), drinking could directly lower

academic performance through several mechanisms which include the time that

students spend at social events at which alcohol is consumed as opposed to on

schoolwork; the inebriation and hangovers that result from heavy drinking at these

events can impact the quality of grades by both temporarily diminishing cognitive skills

and effort reduction; and alcohol use might indirectly influence low grades by prompting

other detrimental behaviors.

It is generally agreed that alcohol consumption among the youth can lead to

serious health issues and even influence their academic performance. The research

however set to find out the effect of alcohol consumption on students’ academic

performance in college of education, Oju in Oju local government area of Benue state.

From the result of the analysis, it is therefore concluded that alcohol consumption

among students can cause health issues temporary memory loss, liver diseases, kidney

failure, high blood pressure and other diseases and even low academic achievement. It

is in this regard that the researcher draws the attention of the teachers, proprietors,

parents, principals as well as government to take priority in guiding the students against

alcohol consumption minding its attendant consequences (EnyiUkoJairus et al, 2017).

Alcohol is a colorless, volatile, flammable liquid which is the intoxicating

constituent of wine, beer, spirits and other drinks. Alcohol is no ordinary commodity

but a drug that can be depended upon (Gureje et al, 2007) Production and
consumption of alcohol in the modern Nigeria is on the increase and the volume

is highly unrecorded due to illegal and local productions and the paucity of data on

the legality of production (Chikere&mayowa 2011).World health organization (2004)

ranked Nigeria among the thirty nations with the highest per capita consumption

of alcohol worldwide. The new drinking norms that have evolved are drinking

competitions among youths. Bar owners, brewery's representatives set out prizes for

the fastest drinkers and the winner is judged based on the quantity consumed (Odejide

et al, 1987, 1999, 2006). In Nigeria there is star trek, gulder ultimate search and a

host of others. In the universities there is a group known as kegite club which

uses palm wine as holy water. There can be lingering cognitive deficits up to 48 hours

after a night of drinking. Heavy drinking by students can lead to positive blood

alcohol levels the next day, affecting whether or not they even get up for class

and, if they do, the quality of how information is processed and Psychology and

Behavioral Sciences 2015; 4(4):147-153 149 ultimately stored. Sleeping off after a

buzz is a common practice, it can interfere with the sleep cycle, resulting in an

increase in anxiety, jumpiness, and irritability the next day, and fatigue the day after

that. Although most people take for granted that alcohol impairs memory of events

that occur during intoxication, alcohol consumption has further-reaching effects on

memory and learning ability", a Duke University study suggests, "intoxication is

produced by temporary impairment of brain receptors key in creating long-term

memories in the hippocampus", said Jeff Georgi, a coordinator at the school's Alcohol

and Addictions Program. "If you study for four hours...then go drinking, it affects this

anchoring process,” he told Duke's Chronicle. Alcohol also disrupts sleep, which
interferes with long-term memory formation. In addition, young adults seem to have

more trouble than older adults learning while drinking, the study suggests.

According to Fleming (1992) youths (undergraduates) engage in alcohol use

to help them cope with academic stress, negative emotions and make them look

mature. Students that use alcohol as a coping mechanism tend to indulge more

always in the use of alcohol and most of the time apply defense mechanism by

engaging in denial and rationalization. Almost one third of college students admit to

having missed a class, and failing a test/project because of alcohol (school Daze,

2000). Regardless of how one defines success, having a good academic

performance will be a boost in achieving it rather than not been educated.

Alcohol consumption by students in the university has become unbearable. Not only

has that alcohol posed danger to health but its negative effect on academic

performance. Once in the university, peer group has a strong influence on the

students’ involvement with alcohol. Students instead of engaging in academic

activity spend their precious time in social activity (alcohol). This leads to class

misses, failing of tests, rape, unwanted pregnancies, vandalism, drunk driving and

other types of crimes.

A person's liquor use is essentially impacted by attitudes development during

youth and adolescent years. It is influenced by the parent's mentality and conduct

towards drinking, person’s influence, society, and family relationships.

Experimentation with liquor amid the adolescent years is normal. Some reason

that youngster consume liquor is curiosity, to feel good, diminish stress, and unwind and
to fit in from a very young age. Children see advertisements demonstrating delightful

individuals getting a charge out of life and liquor. What's more, in light of the fact that

numerous parent and different grown-ups use alcohol, socially-having beer or wine with

supper (Mosky and Hobey, 2008).

The World Health Organization (WHO) founded that roughly four and a half

percent of the worldwide weight of diseases and injury is because of alcohol. Liquor

utilization is assessed to cause from 20% to half of cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy,

harming, road traffic accidents, violence and several types of cancer.

Also, college is usually described as time for individual to discover their identity as a

person. For some individuals, its opportunity to really explore their surroundings without

the contracting ties they may feel from their guardians during this period. Individuals

attempt new things and displays conduct that were not expected from them (Fledger

and Hooper, 2003).

Student’s substance use and abuse is affected by various components, among

which are parental ways of life, peer impact, parental relationship, and commitment to

conventional activities among others. Indeed, each of these factors exerts tremendous

influence on students’ frequency of substance use and abuse. Families in which

children have an open relationship with their parents, parental control efforts are

effective means in preventing children from involving in problem behaviors. In this way,

the open relationship goes hand in hand with parenting. Parents who sufficiently control

and oversee their youths may stop them from starting to drink at young age. When

children are also highly attached to their parents, the attachment relationship might
strengthen the impact of control on adolescents’ alcohol use. Because of this, it is

assumed that the expected association between parental control and an early

development of drinking will be moderated by parental attachment (Vorst et al., 2006).

In contemporary Filipino society, with rapid urbanization and globalization taking place

(and all the stressors that go with it) alcohol drinking is a way of coping, escaping and

medicating oneself (Labajo, 2010).

“Philippine law sets the minimum legal drinking age at 18 but underage drinking is

widespread,” wrote Joyce P. Valbuena in a report for Health Action Information Network

(HAIN). “Most young people get alcohol from home with or without their parents’

permission. They know how to obtain alcohol—they are able to get it from friends or

they can discreetly buy for themselves.” Teen alcohol use nearly always causes poor

performance in school, if the teen is using on any kind of a regular basis. Teens that use

alcohol has trouble concentrating in class and on assignments. They also have difficulty

with peer relationships and with relationships with teachers and other authority figures.

“In campuses and colleges, binge drinking occurs during acquaintance night,

promenades, victory balls and pre-graduation parties. So, there’s always something for

these students to do and get drunk,” said Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go, a medical

toxicologist.

Outside schools, binge drinking happens after final examinations or during special

occasions like Christmas celebrations, New Year’s Eve, birthday and wedding parties,

and even during wakes. It is most common during a rite of passage among college

students.
The worst thing that some young people can expect from a night of binge drinking is a

blackout or bad hangover. (Tacio,2018)

 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This study was proposed to add to the available knowledge about alcohol use,

specifically the correlation between alcohol consumption to academic performance.

Additionally, the study allowed for the findings from previous case studies of alcohol

consumption to be expanded. Most studies in the area of alcohol consumption have

been qualitative, however this study utilized survey data to conduct a quantitative

analysis. This chapter will included the research questions that guided this investigation,

a population, sample size and sampling technique, a description of the respondents of

the study and the research instrument, a discussion of the data gathering procedure

and a description of the statistical treatment of the data.

Methods of research

Quantitative research is used for statistical methods and starts with the collection

of data, based on the hypothesis or theory. A big sample of data is collected and this

would require verification, validation and recording before the analysis can take place.

The study examined the effect of alcohol consumption on academic performance. The

independent variable is alcohol consumption while the dependent variable is academic

performance.
Population, Sample Size and sampling technique

The study took place in Polytechnic University of the Philippines. All of the 100

respondents who were currently studying in Polytechnic University of the Philippines are

included to be a part of the study. The simple random sampling was used to select the

participants for accurate result and it’s the easier method to extract samples when

conducting research from a larger population.

Research instruments

A structured questionnaire developed by the researcher was used to obtain

statistically useful information from a large number of respondents about the given topic.

The questionnaire was consisting of two part test. The first part was about the personal

profile of the students and their drinking pattern. While the second part of the test was

about the drinking behavior of the students that may contribute to their academic

performance.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher uses stratified random sampling method in selecting the

respondents for the survey that was prepared. The criteria for admittance must be a

college student studying in Mechanical Engineer of Polytechnic University of the

Philippines andmust be eighteen years of age and above. Respondents were

approached telling them the intention of the research and must agree if the respondents
want to participate in the said research. Prior to given the questionnaires to them to fill,

the researcher will instruct them on how they were expected to respond to the

statements in questionnaire. All the participants included in the study were informed that

their confidentiality was guaranteed and therefore, they are not forced to write their

names on the questionnaire.

Statistical Treatment of data

Descriptive statistics were used to describe the relationship between alcohol

consumption and academic performance in a sample or population.For this research,

they use stratified random sampling in selecting the participants that will answer the

survey form. The mechanical engineering students are divided into two groups; drinkers

and non-drinkers. The sample size is extracted using the drinking population of 4 th and

5th year students.

References

Coyman, J. (n.d.). The Effects of Alcohol Use on Academic Performance Among

College Students. Retrieved from

https://cola.unh.edu/sites/cola.unh.edu/files/student

journals/The_Effects_of_Alcohol_Use_on_Academic_Performance_Among_Coll

ege Students.pdf

Ansari, W., Stock, C., & Mills, C. (2013, October). Is Alcohol Consumption

Associated with Poor Academic Achievement in University Students?

Retrieved March 26, 2018, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3843305/

Alcohol consumption and academic performance. (2015, October 15).

Retrieved March 26, 2018, from

https://www.thecaribbeancurrent.com/alcohol-consumption-and

academic-performance/

Alcohol consumption and academic performance. (2015, October 15).

Retrieved March 26, 2018, from

https://www.thecaribbeancurrent.com/alcohol-consumption-and
 academic-performance/

Alcohol consumption and academic performance. (2015, October 15).

Retrieved March 26, 2018, from

https://www.thecaribbeancurrent.com/alcohol-consumption-and

academic-performance/