Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM

Background of the Study

According to criteria set by the World Psychiatric Association,

who developed the internationally acclaimed Alcohol Abuse and

Alcohol Dependence of male students. They define persistent

physical, social, or occupational problems that have become

associated with alcohol use estimated 8.5 percent of U.S. adults

can be classified either as alcohol abusers or as alcohol

dependent. Psychiatric Dr. Donald Stehouwer of the World

Psychiatric Association explains that Alcohol dependence is an

uncontrolled alcohol intake, unsuccessful efforts to reduce

alcohol use, life problems, and alcohol tolerance and

withdrawal. While The National Institutes of Health defines

alcoholism as a physical addiction to alcohol in which people

continue to drink even though the drinking causes physical,

mental and social problems, including problems with job

responsibilities and relationships they added that Alcoholism

is a multidimensional condition that is typically defined in

terms of four major criterias: 1. preoccupation with drinking

2. emotional problems 3. vocational, social, and family problems

4. physical problems. Not all criteria have to be met, however,

for alcoholism to be diagnosed. Thus Alcoholics can be found in

every age, gender, racial, ethnic, and religious group and in

all socioeconomic and geographic categories. Men students

outnumber women students in the incidence of alcoholism by about

six to one, although women are more vulnerable to alcohol

related organ damage. The elderly tend to be an underreported

group with respect to alcoholism. A systems approach to

alcoholism examines the complex interacting relationships among

individuals, family, friends, and community. The concept of

codependency, which originated in Alcoholics Anonymous, has

helped shed light on the specific effects of alcoholism on

spouses and other family members. None the less the children of

alcoholics (COAs) carry an increased risk of becoming alcoholic

as a result of a vulnerability toward alcoholism for both

genetic and environmental reasons Even so, a male with at least

one alcoholic parent has only a 20-25% chance of becoming and

alcoholic himself. Studies of adoptions and twins have provided

information about the relative influence of genetics and

environment on the development of alcoholism.

Type 1 alcoholic is male, late onset and Type 2 alcoholic male,

begins in adolescence. The Type 2 alcoholism appears to have a

greater genetic component in the inheritance pattern.

There is little data available on the extent of alcoholism or

alcohol abuse and Alcohol dependency by male college students in

the Philippines.

However, while there may be no official statistics available,

the consequences of alcoholism and Alcohol dependency are very

obvious in the community or inside homes. There are many

undocumented cases of alcoholic male student who collapsed in

the streets because of drunkenness. Alcoholism and Alcohol

dependency is a growing concern in the culture and social life

of our country. In the recent years, only few alcohol-related

cases have been recorded by the Philippine General Hospital. For

instance last year, only six patients were admitted in that

state-run hospital.

This could be due to the fact that alcoholism is not considered

a medical problem by most Filipinos. Most Filipinos with an

alcohol problem do not submit to medical treatment even if their

condition is chronic.

Alcohol rehabilitation centres have low admission rates compared

to similar institutions for illicit drug dependency. The PGH

alcohol support group centre offers treatment and counselling

for its indigent patients. For anonymity, patients from rich

families go to private rehabilitation centres. There are also

some NGOs which provide similar services and carry out advocacy
work. However, more effort is needed in the Philippines in order

to address the problems of alcohol abuse.

Drinking alcoholic beverages beyond one's capacity to the point

of intoxication is a risky behaviour in which most college

student get involved at some time. In a survey conducted by the

University of the Philippines in 1994, 60 per cent or 5.3

million Filipino college students are said to be drinking

alcoholic beverages. About 4.2 million of them are males and 1.1

million are females. The study stated that most of the Filipino

teenagers have tried cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. In fact,

there are more alcoholic drinkers than smokers.

On the average, Filipino youths start drinking alcohol at the

age of 16 or 17. However, there are also many cases when

children as young as 12 years old are already drinking alcoholic

beverages. About 37 per cent of the respondents in the survey

have continued the habit of drinking alcohol while 33 per cent

said they only drink alcoholic beverages on special occasions.

Some 17 per cent said they have already decided to stop the vice

of drinking.

The male college students said their family, friends, and the

mass media have influenced them to experiment with drinking

alcohol. Underscoring the critical role that the family plays in

youth behaviours, young people seem to take their cue from their

own parents' attitudes and behaviour. Thus, a boy who grows up

with an alcoholic father is more likely to become one himself.

According to the World Health Organization, the burden of

disease from alcohol exceeds tabacco because harmful

consequences lead to death and disability in the younger years

of life. There is widespread of alcohol consumption among 2

billion people worldwide with 76.3 million diagnpsed with

alcohol abuse (world health organization, 2005)a cross-sectorial

survey was conducted to assess the alcohol drinking behaviour of

adolescents and it related factors among 280 3rd year and 4th year

college students in one purposely selected college in Baguio,

Philippines during January, 2008. A high proportion of

respondents in the study (74.3%) were 15-20 years old. The data

were analysed by using MANITAB. Chi-Square test was used for

testing association between the dependent variable and

independent variables and criteria for significance.