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Paying for drinks in a bar - Source: ONE News
Nearly a third of people aged 18 to 55 who drink alcohol have had the experience of saying things they regret on a first date because they've had a few drinks too many.
That's according to a new survey for the New Zealand Drug Foundation which also found that about one in five of the drinkers who had had too many ended up doing things they wish they hadn't.
However, most of those surveyed said they did not feel a need for alcohol while out on a first date - and most did not end up red-faced on Facebook or Twitter after a few drinks.
The margin of error for the survey was 6.7%.
The Drug Foundation is currently running a month-long
FebFast
fundraiser in which people give up alcohol for all of
February to raise money via online sponsorship for charities
working with young people affected by drugs or alcohol.
Last year's FebFast raised more than $100,000.
Co-ordinator Catherine Milburn says she is heartened by the survey findings.
"We can see that for some people having a few too many drinks ends up with them saying or doing things they regret," she said.
"But the survey also shows that most people - 70% - don't need to drink alcohol to make a good first impression on a date.
"And with social media such a large part of our lives, it was also really good to see that people are using it responsibly and not posting comments or drunken photos that they wish they hadn't once they've sobered up."
Key findings from the survey:
- Of the 500 people who took part, 80% of men described themselves as drinkers and 74% of women.
- 30% of 18-55 year old drinkers said they have said things they later regretted when out on a first date or having drinks with someone they were interested in, as a result of having had too much to drink. This was true of more women (36%) compared with men (24%), and of people aged 18 to 34 (41%) than people aged 35 to 54 (23%).
- 22% of 18-55 year old drinkers said had done things they regretted, after a few too many drinks on a first date. This was true of both men and women, but the survey found that people aged 18 to 34 (32%) were more likely to have experienced this situation than people aged 35 to 54 (17%).
- 10% of of 18-55 year old drinkers who use social media have done something on a social media site like Facebook or Twitter after drinking too much, and 11% have had embarrassing photos of themselves when drunk tagged on sites like Facebook or Twitter that have subsequently had a negative effect on their social life or work.
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