Three out of four drinking occasions become binge-drinking sessions for male students, a report on Irish third-level students' health reveals.
The report also finds binge drinking is almost twice as prevalent among female students as it is among women in the general population.
The College Lifestyle and Attitudinal National (Clan) report finds three out of five drinking occasions become binge sessions for female students.
Published yesterday by the Health Promotion Unit in the Department of Health, the report was carried out over the 2002/03 academic year and is based on interviews with over 3,000 students.
Three areas of serious concern arise from its findings: in mental health, particularly for first-year males, sexual health and alcohol-related harm.
Binge drinking, which is defined as at least four pints of beer or a bottle of wine or the equivalent in one session, at least once a week, was common among male students (61 per cent).
Some 44 per cent of females reported a binge session at least once a week. This compares with 26 per sent of women in the general population.
"These figures indicate that this pattern of high-risk drinking is the norm among college students," says the report.
Dr Ann Hope, national alcohol policy advisor at the department, said it was an "issue of real concern", at yesterday's publication.
Regular binge drinkers - who binged at least twice a week - were twice as likely to have missed classes, to have felt the effects of alcohol at class and to feel their studies were damaged.
They were three times as likely to have money concerns, twice as likely to have used cannabis, three times as likely to have had unprotected sex and were less likely to have positive coping strategies to deal with anxiety and depression. Students spent about €80 million on alcohol during a college year.
In terms of sexual health, the study finds almost three-quarters of students are sexually active. Worryingly, almost one in 10, when asked what form of protection they used, answered either "withdrawal" (5 per cent) or "nothing" (4 per cent).
The report said that among female students who were sexually active, 42 per cent reported they had used the morning-after pill as a form of contraception.
The most common form of protection used was condoms (71 per cent) followed by the pill (45 per cent). The six most common reasons given for not using condoms were the sex was unplanned, they have a single partner, loss of sensation, impaired judgment due to alcohol, loss of spontaneity and preference for other methods.
While the vast majority of students (85 per cent) rated their mental health as good or very good, there were findings of concern, particularly that 10 per cent said they would cope with depression or anxiety by taking drugs or getting drunk.
The report said poor coping strategies were very evident. Where over half (55 per cent) of all students said they would sort it out alone, one-third (35 per cent) would try to ignore it.
"First and second year male students were the most likely to try and ignore it or do nothing about feeling very anxious or depressed."
