“All suffering together”: Student drinkers’ experiences of alcohol hangover

AbstractBackground: There is a pervasive norm of drinking to intoxication among young people in many affluent countries, despite recent falls in overall alcohol consumption. Students’ accounts of their experiences of alcohol hangovers have not been explored in any depth, which is surprising given the high rates of heavy episodic drinking amongst this group. This study investigated student drinkers’ lay health beliefs about alcohol hangovers, considering the role of hangovers in student drinking culture and the implications for safer drinking initiatives.Method: The present study involved a Thematic analysis of semi-structured individual interviews with 23 students aged 18 to 29 (8 women and 15 men) at a university in South West England about their thoughts, feelings and experiences regarding hangovers and drinking.Results: Hangovers were relatively frequent events for most participants, associated with heavy drinking and producing unpleasant physical and psychological effects. Participants employed a rang...