UK University Drug & Alcohol Cultures & International Student University Experiences

Description

University students appear to use alcohol and drugs to relieve stress, improve academic performance and make new friends, but remain most at risk of detrimental impacts and drug/ alcohol use harms. Despite well-documented social belonging pressures, limited research focuses on international student university experiences in relation to UK University drug and alcohol cultures. To explore this, three in-depth international student focus group interviews (N = 18) were conducted and analysed using Thematic Analysis. Findings provided an insight into international student drug and alcohol attitudes, motivations and perceptions; knowledge of alcohol/drug harms, laws and university policies; impacts on university life, social belonging, participation, university attainment and engagement; among other areas. Findings have implications for student integration, education participation, with potential implications for university teaching and learning strategies, student pastoral support, wellbeing and belonging university interventions. This includes best practice for engaging students as co-partners in research and enhancing the student voice.

Period	25 Jun 2025
Event title	UON Research Conference 2025: EVIDENCING EVIDENCE: an interdisciplinary approach to the nature of evidence in research
Event type	Conference
Location	Northampton, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National