When the barmen in Swedish student bars were given special training, the customers were less inclined to indulge in excessive drinking. Thus the findings of a study by Kent Johnsson and Mats Berglund at Lund University.

Forty student-barmen followed a course of training in responsible drinking. Before and after the training, regular customers were given a blood test to measure their blood alcohol. The barmen were also asked to rate the atmosphere in the pub as ‘pleasant’, ‘excited’ or ‘out of control’.

During the initial phase of the study measurements were taken in a total of 664 regular customers, half of whom frequented pubs with barmen who had received the training (the intervention group). The other half were served by barmen who had not received special training (the control group). The measurements were repeated under similar circumstances one month later.

There was no difference between the intervention and the control group at first, both scoring an average blood alcohol content of approximately 0.84 mg/ml. One month later the average blood alcohol content in the intervention group appeared to have fallen by 5%, while that of the control group had increased by more than 8%. This difference of an average of 13% was the most marked in male customers. The perceived state of the ‘out-of-control’ atmosphere also reduced by 18%.

The researchers concluded that a suitable training course for barmen can in fact influence the drinking behaviour of students in a favourable direction.

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