Alcohol policy support among mandated college students

Background

Alcohol consumption on college campuses is high, and often dangerous. College administrators have created policies to control alcohol consumption, but student body support or opposition of specific policies has been relatively unexplored.

Method

The current study examined the relations of alcohol policy support with gender and alcohol consumption. Mandated students (N = 229; 44% women) completed self-report assessments of alcohol policy support and alcohol consumption.

Results

Women supported policies to a greater extent than did men, as did lighter drinkers relative to heavier drinkers. Drinks per drinking day fully mediated the relation between gender and alcohol policy support.

Conclusion

While alcohol policy support differs by gender, this covariation is explained by differences in alcohol consumption. Findings have implications for addressing alcohol policy support among mandated college students.     

Intervention defensiveness as a moderator of drinking outcome among heavy-drinking mandated college students

The efficacy of the Alcohol Skills Training Program (ASTP; Miller, et al., 2000) was evaluated in 204 heavy-drinking college students randomly assigned to either ASTP (n = 119) or an assessment-only control (n = 85) condition. The volunteer ASTP sample (n = 119) was also compared to a sample of students mandated to ASTP following a first-time sanction (n = 90). At baseline, mandated students reported lower levels of peak drinking, negative consequences, readiness to change and higher defensiveness than voluntary students. However, the voluntary sample showed reductions in problem drinking indicators over time such that there were no differences from mandated students at follow-up. There were no outcome differences between volunteers assigned to ASTP versus assessment-only. A new measure of defensiveness was evaluated and had a significant moderating effect on ASTP outcome for peak drinking consumed on a peak occasion at follow-up among mandated students.     

Comparing injunctive marijuana use norms of salient reference groups among college student marijuana users and nonusers

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among college students and has the potential for various negative outcomes. Perceptions of what constitutes typical approval/acceptability of a reference group (i.e. injunctive social norms) have been shown to have strong utility as predictors of health-risk behaviors in the college context, yet this construct remains significantly understudied for marijuana use despite its potential for use in social norms-based interventions. The current research evaluated individuals' marijuana approval level and their perceptions of others' marijuana approval level (i.e. injunctive norms) for various reference groups (typical student on campus, one's close friends, and one's parents) as a function of individual user status (abstainers, experimenters, occasional users, and regular users). A diverse sample of 3553 college students from two universities completed an online survey. Among all user status groups, individual approval yielded mean scores paralleling that of perceived close friends' approval and all groups were relatively uniform in their perception of typical students' approval. Higher levels of marijuana use tended to produce higher endorsements of individual approval, perceived close friends' approval, and perceived parental approval. Among occasional and regular users, there were no differences between one's own approval level for use and the perceptions of close friends' approval, nor did they think the typical student was more approving than themselves. Abstainers and experimenters, however, perceived typical students and close friends to have more permissive attitudes than themselves. Implications and future directions for research regarding the role of injunctive marijuana use norms in the development of social norms intervention are discussed.     

Reasons for not drinking and perceived injunctive norms as predictors of alcohol abstinence among college students

Few studies have examined the association between reasons for not drinking and social norms among abstinent college students. Research suggests that drinking motives are associated with perceived injunctive norms and drinking. Therefore, it seems likely that reasons for not drinking may also be associated with perceived injunctive norms and abstinence. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between reasons for not drinking and perceived injunctive norms on alcohol abstinence. Participants were 423 light-drinking and abstinent college students from a public northwestern university who completed online surveys at baseline, 3-, and 6-month follow-up. We examined abstinence as a function of all subscales of the Reasons for Not Drinking scale using logistic regression, as well as conducted two mediational analyses indicating: 1) perceived injunctive norms as a mediator of the relationship between reasons for not drinking and abstinence, and 2) reasons for not drinking as a mediator of the relationship between perceived injunctive norms and abstinence. The Disapproval/Lack of Interest subscale was the only subscale of the Reasons for Not Drinking scale that was significantly associated with 6-month abstinence. Further, Disapproval/Lack of Interest both directly predicted abstinence and indirectly predicted abstinence via perceived injunctive norms. Perceived injunctive norms indirectly predicted abstinence via Disapproval/Lack of Interest, but did not directly predict abstinence. Results suggest that self-defining personal values are an important component of keeping abstaining college students abstinent. These results are discussed with regard to implications for interventions designed specifically for maintaining abstinence throughout college.     

Evaluation of two Web-based alcohol interventions for mandated college students

This study evaluated the efficacy of two Web-based interventions aimed at reducing heavy drinking in mandated college students. Mandated students were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Web-based personalized normative feedback (WPNF) or Web-based education (WE). As predicted, results indicated that mandated students in the WPNF condition reported significantly greater reductions in weekly drinking quantity, peak alcohol consumption, and frequency of drinking to intoxication than students in the WE condition at a 30-day follow-up. Although not statistically significant, there was a similar trend for changes in alcohol-related problems. Mandated students in the WPNF group also reported significantly greater reductions in estimates of peer drinking from baseline to the follow-up assessment than students in the WE group. In addition, changes in estimates of peer drinking mediated the effect of the intervention on changes in drinking. Findings provide support for providing Web-based personalized normative feedback as an intervention program for mandated college students.     

Phone-delivered brief motivational interventions for mandated college students delivered during the summer months

Objective

Across the United States, tens of thousands of college students are mandated to receive an alcohol intervention following an alcohol policy violation. Telephone interventions may be an efficient method to provide mandated students with an intervention, especially when they are away from campus during summer vacation. However, little is known about the utility of telephone-delivered brief motivational interventions.

Method

Participants in the study (N = 57) were college students mandated to attend an alcohol program following a campus-based alcohol citation. Participants were randomized to a brief motivational phone intervention (pBMI) (n = 36) or assessment only (n = 21). Ten participants (27.8%) randomized to the pBMI did not complete the intervention. Follow-up assessments were conducted 3, 6, and 9 months post-intervention.

Results

Results indicated the pBMI significantly reduced the number of alcohol-related problems compared to the assessment-only group. Participants who did not complete the pBMI appeared to be lighter drinkers at baseline and randomization, suggesting the presence of alternate influences on alcohol-related problems.

Conclusion

Phone BMIs may be an efficient and cost-effective method to reduce harms associated with alcohol use by heavy-drinking mandated students during the summer months.     

Hostility in mandated students: Exploratory analysis and implications for treatment

College students mandated to receive an intervention following an alcohol-related campus violation are a high-risk group of students experiencing the negative effects of alcohol. Understanding the psychological properties associated with mandated students' alcohol use may provide useful clinical information. Hostility is a trait that has shown association with heavy drinking in adults but has gone unstudied in mandated students. We examined the relationship between hostility and a variety of drinking-related variables in mandated students (N = 466). Results indicated that individuals reporting higher levels of hostility reported riskier drinking and alcohol-related problems, yet exhibited ambivalence regarding their alcohol use. Findings are discussed in the context of treating mandated students exhibiting high hostility and risky drinking, a particularly challenging population.     

Reducing high-risk drinking in mandated college students: evaluation of two personalized normative feedback interventions

This study evaluated the efficacy of two brief personalized normative feedback interventions aimed at reducing heavy drinking among mandated college students (N = 135). Students were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Web-based assessment with self-guided personalized normative feedback (SWF) or Web-based assessment with counselor-guided personalized normative feedback (CWF). Results indicated that students in the CWF condition reported significantly greater reductions in weekly drinking quantity and binge drinking frequency than those in the SWF group at follow-up (M = 8 months). Students in the CWF group also reported significantly greater reductions in estimates of peer drinking from baseline to the follow-up assessment than students in the SWF group. In addition, changes in estimates of peer drinking partially mediated the effect of the intervention on changes in drinking. Results suggest that counselor-guided feedback may be more effective in reducing drinking among mandated students relative to self-guided feedback in the long term.     

Defending girlfriends, buddies and oneself: injunctive norms and male barroom aggression

Objective

Research has demonstrated that young adults tend to overestimate their peers' approval of risky behaviors (i.e., injunctive norms) and that perceived peer approval is associated with actual behavior; however, no empirical studies have assessed injunctive norms in relation to male barroom aggression. The objectives of the present study were to compare young men's own approval of male barroom aggression with their perceptions of approval by male and female peers and to determine the extent that perceived peer approval of male barroom aggression was associated with self-reported physical aggression at a bar, controlling for own approval and heavy episodic drinking.

Method

525 young adult male university and community college students who reported drinking and going to a bar, club or pub rated their own approval and perceptions of peers' approval of bar aggression on items reflecting four domains of approval: (1) general approval, (2) defend self, (3) defend friend and (4) protect girlfriend.

Results

For all four domains, participants attributed greater approval to male peers than to themselves. Aggression was positively associated with own approval for all domains and with perceived male peer approval for general approval, defend self and defend friend, controlling for heavy episodic drinking and own approval of aggression. Perceived approval by female peers was not associated with increased likelihood of aggression.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that both perceived male peer approval and personal approval are factors associated with male barroom aggression and that addressing approval of barroom aggression is a critical direction for prevention programming.     

Self-regulation as a buffer of the relationship between parental alcohol misuse and alcohol-related outcomes in first-year college students

Alcohol misuse among college students is a large public health concern, thus, it is imperative to identify factors that reduce this risk. One risk factor associated with developing alcohol-related problems is meeting criteria for being an adult child of an alcoholic (ACOA). Conversely, self-regulation has been identified as a protective factor that is inversely associated with drinking-related outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether self-regulation buffers the risk associated with ACOA status on alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences. In a sample of 195 first-year college students, we found that ACOA status had a unique effect on both alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences. Self-regulation was unrelated to alcohol use but inversely associated with alcohol-related consequences. Notably, self-regulation moderated the effect of ACOA status on alcohol-related problems (but not alcohol consumption) such that self-regulation was most strongly related to alcohol-related problems among ACOAs. Our results suggest that self-regulation helps explain the resilience of many ACOAs.     

The motivational context for mandated alcohol interventions for college students by gender and family history

Objective

Alcohol interventions to reduce drinking for college students sanctioned for alcohol use reduce drinking and/or problems. However, intrinsic motivation to change cannot be assumed if students are mandated to receive interventions. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of both gender and family history on motivational variables prior to a mandated intervention.

Method

Participants were 677 students (63% male) who violated residence hall alcohol policy and were mandated to participate in an alcohol abuse prevention intervention. During a baseline assessment, students described their drinking patterns and completed an assessment of biological risk for alcohol problems; they also reported attitudes regarding the sanction event, perceived peer norms regarding sanctions, resistance to influences on their alcohol use, motivation to change alcohol use, and decisional balance regarding current alcohol use.

Results

Many gender differences emerged on the motivational variables suggestive of more motivation to change among female students; family history was related only to drinking patterns and decisional balance.

Conclusions

If motivational factors influence receptivity and response to mandated interventions, then these finding suggest that greater attention to enhancing motivation to change in male students is warranted.     

Injunctive norms for alcohol-related consequences and protective behavioral strategies: effects of gender and year in school

Perceived drinking norms have received increased attention as one determinant of high levels of college alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Excessive drinking is widely visible on college campuses, and students may therefore assume that it is peer-supported (Kitts, 2003). Research into peer relations indicates that the perceived approval of important others predicts drinking behavior (Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fossos, & Larimer, 2007). Neither the use of alcohol-related protective behavioral strategies nor alcohol-related negative consequences have been investigated in terms of their perceived approval. The purpose of this study was to extend previous research on injunctive norms and assess self-other discrepancies in levels of approval for campus drinking patterns, negative alcohol-related consequences, and protective behavioral strategies. Undergraduate volunteers (n=324, 61% female, 67% Caucasian) completed an online survey of drinking patterns; they rated comfort with overall campus drinking, and the acceptability of alcohol-related consequences and protective strategies for themselves and their close friends. As predicted, students expressed lower acceptance of consequences than their friends, and higher acceptance of alcohol-related protective strategies. We observed main effects of gender and year in school. Males and upperclassmen expressed higher acceptance of negative consequences for both self and others, and lower acceptance of protective strategies for both self and others. Implications for prevention programs are discussed.     

Estimates and influences of reflective opposite-sex norms on alcohol use among a high-risk sample of college students: exploring Greek-affiliation and gender effects

Reflective opposite sex norms are behavior that an individual believes the opposite sex prefers them to do. The current study extends research on this recently introduced construct by examining estimates and influences of reflective norms on drinking in a large high-risk heterosexual sample of male and female college students from two universities. Both gender and Greek-affiliation served as potential statistical moderators of the reflective norms and drinking relationship. All participants (N=1790; 57% female) answered questions regarding the amount of alcohol they believe members of the opposite sex would like their opposite sex friends, dates, and sexual partners to drink. Participants also answered questions regarding their actual preferences for drinking levels in each of these three relationship categories. Overall, women overestimated how much men prefer their female friends and potential sexual partners to drink, whereas men overestimated how much women prefer their sexual partners to drink. Greek-affiliated males demonstrated higher reflective norms than non-Greek males across all relationship categories, and for dating partners, only Greek-affiliated males misperceived women's actual preferences. Among women however, there were no differences between reflective norm estimates or the degree of misperception as a function of Greek status. Most importantly, over and above perceived same-sex social norms, higher perceived reflective norms tended to account for greater variance in alcohol consumption for Greeks (vs. non-Greeks) and males (vs. females), particularly within the friend and sexual partner contexts. The findings highlight that potential benefits might arise if existing normative feedback interventions were augmented with reflective normative feedback designed to target the discrepancy between perceived and actual drinking preferences of the opposite sex.     

Drinking before drinking: pregaming and drinking games in mandated students

Pregaming, the practice of consuming alcohol before attending a social function, has not received as much research attention as drinking games among college students. This study investigated the prevalence of both pregaming and drinking game participation in a sample of mandated students (N=334) who had been referred for an alcohol violation. Approximately one-third (31%) of the sample reported pregaming on the night of their referral event. Pregaming was associated with higher estimated blood alcohol content on that night, along with a greater history of pregaming and taking greater responsibility for the incident. A higher proportion of the students (49%) reported playing drinking games on the event night and reported the event to be less aversive than non-players. Neither drinking games nor pregaming was consistently related to recent alcohol consumption or problems, nor did they frequently occur together on the event night. Pregaming was a unique predictor of intoxication on the night of the referral, and drinking games were not. Therefore, pregaming and drinking games appear to be distinct activities. This research suggests methods of prevention for both activities as well as promising research directions for future research.