The relationship of time management and lifestyle organization to problem drinking in college students

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of time management and lifestyle organization to problem-drinking among college students at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Data were collected during the spring, 1994 semester. Two-hundred-eighty-six volunteers from Personal Health, General Sociology and Introduction to Nutrition classes completed the following three instruments: the Time Management Questionnaire (TMQ), the Lifestyle Approaches (LSA) inventory, and the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). Answers were sought for the following research questions: (1) What is the relationship between the TMQ and the MAST?; (2) What is the relationship between the LSA and the MAST?; (3) Are there significant differences in overall TMQ scores among problem-drinkers and nonproblem-drinkers?; (4) Are there significant differences in overall LSA scores among problem-drinkers and nonproblem-drinkers?; (5) Do any factor scores of the TMQ [Short Range Planning (SRP), Time Attitudes (TA), Long Range Planning (LRP)] differ significantly between problem-drinkers and nonproblem-drinkers?; (6) Do any factor scores of the LSA [Performance Focus and Efficiency (PFE), Goal-Directedness (GD), Timeliness of Task Accomplishment (TTA), Organization of Physical Space (OPS)] differ significantly between problem-drinkers and nonproblem-drinkers?. Data analysis showed that 31% (n=90) of the participants were categorized as problem-drinkers, and 69% (n=196) as nonproblem-drinkers. The TMQ and LSA scores were inversely related to the MAST scores. Problem-drinkers and nonproblem-drinkers demonstrated significantly different overall TMQ and LSA scores, as well as significantly different scores on the following factors for those scales: TA, LRP, PFE, GD, TTA, and OPS. The following conclusions were drawn: 1. Self-reported skill in time management is inversely related to the presence of problem-drinking among college students. 2. Self-reported skill in lifestyle organization is inversely related to the presence of problem-drinking among college students. 3. Self-reported problem-drinkers are more likely to possess lower levels of proficiency in overall time management skills among college students. 4. Self-reported problem-drinkers are more likely to possess lower levels of proficiency in overall lifestyle organization skills among college students. 5. Self-reported problem-drinkers are more likely to possess lower levels of proficiency in maintaining appropriate attitudes towards time, and in planning for the future. 6. Self-reported problem-drinkers are more likely to possess lower levels of proficiency in focusing on tasks, setting goals, completing tasks on time and in organizing their environments.