Awareness of alcohol advertisements and perceived influence on alcohol consumption: a qualitative study of Nigerian university students

Despite the growing alcohol marketing activities of the transnational alcohol industries in Nigeria, little research has focused on their effects on Nigerian youths. This study explores students’ awareness of electronic and outdoor alcohol advertisement on campus and around students’ off-campus residential and leisure sites, and the extent to which they perceive it to affect their drinking. Thirty-one in-depth interviews were conducted with male and female undergraduate students (aged 19-23 years) from a south-eastern Nigerian university. Alcohol advertisements on television, posters, billboards and the branded fences of bars are common on campus and around students’ off-campus residential and leisure spaces. While students were exposed to television alcohol advertisements aired during football games, movies and news hours, they regularly saw point-of-sale and other outdoor advertisements on and around the campus. Students demonstrated sophisticated levels of awareness of alcohol advertisements, to the extent that they ‘identified’ brand names, vividly described the advertising messages they had seen and named specific bars, restaurants and other sites where they had seen alcohol advertisements regularly. While alcohol advertisement influenced men to consume new products, it also affected their brand preference on a permanent basis. Although alcohol advertisements appear not to have influenced the women, it is argued that this was because they were exposed to the advertisements of alcoholic brands that are categorised as ‘men’s alcohol’ in Nigeria. The results suggest that while effective monitoring of electronic and outdoor advertisements should be reinforced, policymakers may consider replacing self-regulation with evidence-based alcohol control regulatory measures in Nigeria

Intoxicating entertainment? The influence of "Star Music Trek" on the drinking practices of Nigerian students

Sophisticated marketing strategies are increasingly used by transnational alcohol companies in Nigeria. While this facilitates alcohol availability and encourages alcohol consumption, there are no effective policies to regulate alcohol marketing. This study draws on qualitative interviews with 31 Nigerian university students (aged 19–23 years) to explore some of the ways in which “Star Music Trek” (SMT, a brewer-sponsored music concert) establishes spaces that facilitate alcohol consumption among Nigerian youths. The data were analyzed to generate themes with the aid of NVivo 10 software. The article argues that although the rationale for attending the SMT event is to be entertained by famous artists for a reduced entrance fee, the event creates conditions that influence young people to use alcohol in diverse ways. Among nondrinkers, SMT establishes conditions that influence alcohol initiation because purchasing “Star beer,” the brand that sponsors SMT, not only serves as a ticket or gate pass to some of the concerts, but it is also the only brand sold at the event. Among those who use alcohol, SMT creates spaces that encourage a culture of intoxication because of the easy availability and accessibility of Star beer and promotional activities in the form of price reductions, raffle draws, and free drinks. The participants also discussed the ways in which the sponsor uses its marketing representatives to promote brand allegiance by encouraging attendees to favor Star beer after the concert. Overall, the findings reveal that SMT is a sophisticated marketing strategy to promote the Star brand. The study discusses the implications of the findings and concludes that effective national alcohol control policies should be formulated and implemented in Nigeria.The doctoral research, from which this article was taken was funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)

Use of mixed methods designs in substance research: a methodological necessity in Nigeria

The utility of mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) is becoming increasingly accepted in health sciences, but substance studies are yet to substantially benefit from such utilities. While there is a growing number of mixed methods alcohol articles concerning developed countries, developing nations are yet to embrace this method. In the Nigerian context, the importance of mixed methods research is yet to be acknowledged. This article therefore, draws on alcohol studies to argue that mixed methods designs will better equip scholars to understand, explore, describe and explain why alcohol consumption and its related problems are increasing in Nigeria. It argues that as motives for consuming alcohol in contemporary Nigeria are multiple, complex and evolving, mixed method approaches that provide multiple pathways for proffering solutions to problems should be embraced

The influence of alcohol industry-sponsored “Gulder Ultimate Search” reality television series on the drinking behaviors of Nigerian youths

Background: Alcohol consumption among youths and its related problems are increasing in Nigeria. Whilst one of the reasons for this is due to the marketing activities of the transnational alcohol corporations, there are no written national alcohol control policies that regulate alcohol marketing in Nigeria. Methods: This article draws on in-depth interviews with 31 Nigerian university students (aged 19–23 years) to explore the extent to which the “Gulder Ultimate Search” (GUS) reality television show influences alcohol consumption amongst GUS contestants, television audiences and those who participate in GUS promotional activities. Results: The results show that GUS was very popular amongst students and their knowledge of the reality show was high, to the extent that they were able to identify the particular alcohol company that sponsors the reality television program, the number of contestants that compete for the prizes in each season, and what can be won by the contestants or television viewers. GUS influences the drinking behaviors of contestants because one of the criteria for participation is to present 10 or more recently used “cans” of “Gulder beer” during the screening exercise. GUS also appears to influence the drinking behaviors of television viewers and those who participate in promotions due to product placement, direct advertisements and promotional activities that accompany the “Fan-Based Edition” aspect of GUS. Conclusion: Overall, GUS is a disguised marketing strategy to promote brand awareness, and to increase sales and consumption. Alcohol control policies that regulate event sponsorship and promote public health should be implemented in Nigeria

The downward spiral of mental disorders and educational attainment: a systematic review on early school leaving.

BACKGROUND: Most psychiatric disorders present symptom patterns that cause severe impairment on the emotional, cognitive and social level. Thus, adolescents who suffer from a mental disorder risk finding themselves in a downward spiral caused by the reciprocal association of psychological symptoms and negative school experiences that may culminate in early school leaving. In addition to previous collective work that mainly focused on school refusing behaviour among children and was presented as an expert's opinion, the following systematic review fills the knowledge gap by providing a structured overview of the bidirectional association between mental health and secondary school dropout based on a sound methodology and with a particular focus on mediating factors. METHODS: Four electronic databases were searched from January 1990 until June 2014. Selected references were assessed for study details, main results, mediating factors and methodological limitations. Standardized risk of bias assessment was conducted. RESULTS: Mood and anxiety disorders seemed to have a less consequential direct effect on early school leaving than substance use and disruptive behaviour disorders. The association between externalizing disorders and educational attainment was even stronger when the disorder occurred early in life. On the other hand, internalizing disorders were reported to develop as a consequence of school dropout. Only few studies had addressed gender differences, with discrepant results. Socio-economic background, academic achievement and family support were identified as significant mediating factors of the association between mental disorders and subsequent educational attainment. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggested a strong association between mental health and education, in both directions. However, most studies focused on mediating factors that could not be targeted by intervention programs

Corrosion Protection Effect of Chitosan on the Performance Characteristics of A6063 Alloy

This article outlines the behaviour of water-soluble chitosan as an effective inhibitor on aluminium alloy in 3.65% NaCl at room temperature. The inhibitive ability of water-soluble chitosan was examined using electrochemical potentiodynamic polarization techniques, mass loss measurements and computational studies. The outcome of the experiment reveals that chitosan inhibited aluminium alloy in sodium chloride solution exhibits better corrosion protection than the uninhibited because chitosan nanoparticles minimize the ingression of chloride ion into the active sites of aluminium alloy by forming thin film on its surface. The losses in mass by the inhibited aluminium alloy were found to reduce as the concentration of chitosan increases. Results obtained showed that chitosan could offer inhibition efficiency above 70%. Polarization curve demonstrated that chitosan in 3.65% NaCl at room temperature acted as a mixed-type inhibitor. Adsorption of chitosan nanoparticles on the aluminium alloy was found to follow Langmuir adsorption isotherm with correlation regression coefficient (R2 ) value of 0.9961

Drinking to ease the burden: a cross-sectional study on trauma, alcohol abuse and psychopathology in a post-conflict context

Ertl V, Saile R, Neuner F, Catani C. Drinking to ease the burden: a cross-sectional study on trauma, alcohol abuse and psychopathology in a post-conflict context. BMC Psychiatry. 2016;16(1): 202.Background It is likely that alcohol use and abuse increase during and after violent conflicts. The most prominent explanation of this phenomenon has been referred to as self-medication hypothesis. It predicts that psychotropic substances are consumed to deal with conflict-related psychic strains and trauma. In northern Uganda, a region that has been affected by a devastating civil war and is characterized by high levels of alcohol abuse we examined the associations between war-trauma, childhood maltreatment and problems related to alcohol use. Deducing from the self-medication hypothesis we assumed alcohol consumption moderates the relationship between trauma-exposure and psychopathology. Methods A cross-sectional epidemiological survey targeting war-affected families in post-conflict northern Uganda included data of male (n = 304) and female (n = 365) guardians. We used standardized questionnaires in an interview format to collect data on the guardians’ socio-demography, trauma-exposure, alcohol consumption and symptoms of alcohol abuse, PTSD and depression. Results Symptoms of current alcohol use disorders were present in 46 % of the male and 1 % of the female respondents. A multiple regression model revealed the unique contributions of emotional abuse in the families of origin and trauma experienced outside the family-context in the prediction of men’s alcohol-related symptoms. We found that alcohol consumption moderated the dose-effect relationship between trauma-exposure and symptoms of depression and PTSD. Significant interactions indicated that men who reported more alcohol-related problems experienced less increase in symptoms of PTSD and depression with increasing trauma-exposure. Conclusions The gradual attenuation of the dose-effect the more alcohol-related problems were reported is consistent with the self-medication hypothesis. Hence, the functionality of alcohol consumption has to be considered when designing and implementing addiction treatment in post-conflict contexts

Community Violence and Youth: Affect, Behavior, Substance Use, and Academics

Community violence is recognized as a major public health problem (WHO, World Report on Violence and Health,2002) that Americans increasingly understand has adverse implications beyond inner-cities. However, the majority of research on chronic community violence exposure focuses on ethnic minority, impoverished, and/or crime-ridden communities while treatment and prevention focuses on the perpetrators of the violence, not on the youth who are its direct or indirect victims. School-based treatment and preventive interventions are needed for children at elevated risk for exposure to community violence. In preparation, a longitudinal, community epidemiological study, The Multiple Opportunities to Reach Excellence (MORE) Project, is being fielded to address some of the methodological weaknesses presented in previous studies. This study was designed to better understand the impact of children’s chronic exposure to community violence on their emotional, behavioral, substance use, and academic functioning with an overarching goal to identify malleable risk and protective factors which can be targeted in preventive and intervention programs. This paper describes the MORE Project, its conceptual underpinnings, goals, and methodology, as well as implications for treatment and preventive interventions and future research