THE DRINKING PATTERNS OF AMERICAN AND POLISH UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS - A CROSS-NATIONAL-STUDY

A study of 3375 American and 1408 Polish university students was accomplished to test the hypotheses that cultural differences influence drinking patterns and beverage preferences between countries. Using the same questionnaire in both samples, the results revealed that significantly (P < 0.001) more drinks per week were consumed by both Polish male (24.9) and female (15.2) students compared to American male (15.0) and female (7.6) students. Significantly (P < 0.001) more wine was consumed by Polish (8.7) compared to the American (0.8) students. American female students consumed more beer than Polish female students. There was no difference between beer and spirits consumption between American and Polish males and Polish students in latter school years consumed more alcohol compared to students in the first years of school. It was concluded that the samples of students in this study reflected their cultures in terms of drinking patterns and beverage preference.