Drink and be merry? Gender, life satisfaction, and alcohol consumption among college students

Abstract

This study examined the impact of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems on several domains of life satisfaction (LS) in a sample of 353 college students. Alcohol use was associated with lower general satisfaction and anticipated future satisfaction among women. Female abstainers reported higher general and anticipated future satisfaction than did female heavy drinkers. Female students' alcohol use was unrelated to their academic, family, dating, or social satisfaction. Drinking among men showed a positive, curvilinear relation to social satisfaction but was unrelated to other domains of LS. Alcohol-related problems were associated with decreased LS among both men and women. These findings suggest that alcohol use by young adults is associated with both positive and negative outcomes that may be gender specific.