We explored stress levels and alcohol use amongst first year students at a peri-urban university in South Africa. A cross sectional survey design using stratified random sampling was utilised (n = 217; females = 60%, males = 40%; age range 17 to 31 years). The students completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Alcohol Use Identification Disorder Test (AUDIT). Descriptive statistics and independent t-tests were used to analysed data. Forty-one percent of the sample reported being fairly to very upset often, while 39% self-reported that they were fairly or very often unable to control important things in their life. Females self-reported significantly more stress than males. About 50% of the sample reported that they drank alcohol two or three times a day and 10% of males and 9% of females self-reported risky and/or harmful levels of alcohol use. Results suggested a need for student substance use safety education by students’ counselling services.

我们探讨了南非一所郊区大学的一年级学生的压力水平和饮酒情况。采用分层随机抽样的横断面调查设计（n = 217；女性= 60％，男性= 40％；年龄范围为17至31岁）。学生们完成了感知压力量表（PSS）和酒精使用识别障碍测试（AUDIT）。描述统计和独立t-测试用于分析数据。样本中有41％的人经常感到非常沮丧，而39％的自我报告说他们相当或经常无法控制生活中的重要事物。女性自我报告的压力明显大于男性。约有50％的样本报告他们每天饮酒两次或三次，男性10％和女性9％自我报告了饮酒的危险和/或有害水平。结果表明，需要通过学生咨询服务进行学生物质使用安全教育。