Making the transition from high school to college: The role of alcohol‐related social influence factors in students' drinking

Using a sample of entering college freshmen (N = 311), the purposes of this study were to examine 1) whether perceived norms for college student alcohol use and problems differed by gender and level of intended Greek involvement (Greek intent); 2) associations between perceived norms, Greek intent, and alcohol use and problems; and 3) whether relations between perceived norms, Greek intent, and alcohol use and problems were moderated by gender. Results revealed no differences in levels of perceived norms for alcohol use and problems as a function of gender or intention to affiliate with a Greek letter organization. Perceived norms demonstrated consistent, significant associations with both alcohol use and problems, while Greek intent demonstrated significant associations only with alcohol problems. Examination of gender effects in associations between perceived norms, Greek intent, and alcohol use and problems revealed a number of differences in these relations. Specifically, Greek intent was significantly associated with measures of alcohol use and problems for men, but not for women. Likewise, the association between perceived norms and alcohol use and problems were significant for men, but not for women. Finally, although perceived norms were a significant predictor of heavy drinking for both men and women, the association was much stronger among male students. These findings suggest that alcohol prevention interventions may benefit from specifically targeting perceived norms among incoming students who are at highest risk (i.e., male pledges).     

Propensity,Social Ties,Friend Behavior,and Heavy Drinking Among College Students

The current research explores self-control, early-onset alcohol propensity, and social ties as they relate to heavy drinking on a college campus. The study draws on a survey of alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors administered to a cluster sample of 149 residential students (M age = 19.9; 51% female) at a medium-sized Midwestern university. A series of ordinary least squares regressions were conducted to explore independent and interactive effects of propensity and social ties on drinking. Propensity and antisocial ties consistently and independently predicted measures of heavy drinking and related consequences. Prosocial ties were less consistent, though they were associated with alcohol-related consequences. Propensity amplified the effects of antisocial ties on drinking and related consequences. Early-onset drinking and low self-control represented unique indicators of propensity for heavy drinking behavior in college. The strongest, most consistent finding across all models was the positive association between close friend substance behavior and participant drinking outcomes. This research indicates that although propensity (i.e., low self-control and early drinking behavior) may put individuals at risk of heavy drinking, these effects can be conditioned by dynamic social ties and thus prevention efforts should focus on these ties. Specifically, prevention campaigns and future research should target “students and their friends” as heavy drinking appears to be heavily influenced by close friendships and perceived norms.     

Trends in Binge and Heavy Drinking,Alcohol-Related Problems,and Combat Exposure in the U.S. Military

Population-based Department of Defense health behavior surveys were examined for binge and heavy drinking among U.S. active duty personnel. From 1998–2008, personnel showed significant increases in heavy drinking (15% to 20%) and binge drinking (35% to 47%). The rate of alcohol-related serious consequences was 4% for nonbinge drinkers, 9% for binge drinkers, and 19% for heavy drinkers. Personnel with high combat exposure had significantly higher rates of heavy (26.8%) and binge (54.8%) drinking than their counterparts (17% and 45%, respectively). Heavy and binge drinking put service members at high risk for problems that diminish force readiness and psychological fitness.     

The Role of Drinking Beliefs to Explain Ethnic Variation in Drinking Practices Among U.S. College Students

This study, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, examines psychosocial mediators to explain discrepancies in past-30-day drinking between African American and White college student drinkers in the United States. Between 2008 and 2010, 5,845 college drinkers completed an online survey about their alcohol use. Using latent variable structural equations modeling, we investigated the relationships between ethnicity, drinking beliefs, and students’ past 30-day alcohol use. Drinking beliefs—i.e., positive expectancies, perceived norms, and disapproval of alcohol use—fully mediated the relationship between ethnicity and drinking behaviors. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

The Association between Distress Tolerance and Alcohol Related Problems: The Pathway of Drinking to Cope

Binge drinking (BD) and alcohol related problems (ARP) are highly prevalent among college students. However, current models examining ARP suggest drinking quantity only accounts for a portion of the variance, suggesting other variables contribute to ARP. Distress tolerance (DT), or the ability to withstand negative affect, is associated with alcohol misuse and may be an important mechanism related to ARP. However, studies have reported inconsistent findings on this association, which may be due to the use of only global scores to measure DT rather than specific DT components. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unknown. Drinking to cope with negative affect has been associated with both DT and ARP, suggesting it may be a mechanism explaining the relationship between DT and ARP. The current study examined the association between specific proposed DT components (i.e., tolerance, absorption, appraisal, and regulation) and drinking to cope and ARP in 147 college students who BD. A hierarchical linear regression was performed in order to examine which DT component best predicted ARP. Four follow-up mediation models were then tested to examine whether drinking to cope mediated the relationship between each DT component and ARP. Appraisal of DT was the only DT component that significantly predicted ARP, in the model controlling for drinking quantity and sex differences. Drinking to cope mediated the relationship between ARP and tolerance, absorption, and regulation, but not appraisal of DT. Implications for furthering our understanding of DT and treatment of BD as it relates to DT are explored.     

The Social Consequences of Binge Drinking Among 24- to 32-Year-Olds in Six European Countries

Data were available from general population surveys carried out in six countries in the years 2000 to 2005 under the auspices of Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS). A total of 2089 adults aged 24–32 in the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Isle of Man, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (UK) responded to questions about their drinking habits and social consequences directly resulting from their drinking. Survey methods varied from quota sampling with face-to-face interviewing in Spain and the UK to telephone surveys in Denmark and Sweden. Response rates varied from 50%% to 72%%. “Binge drinking” defined as a usual amount of more than 8 UK “units” for men and more than 6 units for women was more likely than moderate drinking to lead to social consequences, fights, or being asked to cut down on drinking. There were highly significant differences between the countries both in the percentages of “heavy” drinkers and in the adverse consequences of binge drinking. In Spain, the UK, and the Czech Republic binge drinking was more likely to lead to adverse consequences than was binge drinking in the other three countries. Male gender, low educational level, high drinking frequency, and single marital status were also significantly associated with adverse social consequences from drinking, but none of these variables explained the country differences. The presence of children had little effect.     

Addiction,Drinking Behavior,and Driving Under the Influence

Using a survey of drinkers (N = 1,634), we evaluated alternative explanations of heavy and binge drinking, driving under the influence (DUI), DUI arrests, speeding citations, and chargeable accidents. Explanations included socializing, short-term decision-making, unrealistic optimism, risk preferring behavior, and addiction. Most consistent relationships were between substance use and alcohol addiction and dependent variables for (1) binge drinking and (2) DUI episodes. Respondent characteristics (age, marital and employment status, race, etc.) had important roles for DUI arrests. Drinker-drivers and those arrested for DUI are partially overlapping groups with implications for treatment and policies detecting and incapacitating persons from drinking and driving.     

Comparison of Three Methods to Assess Binge Consumption: One-Week Retrospective Drinking Diary,AUDIT, and Quantity/Frequency

Binge consumption contributes substantially to the occurrence of alcohol-related harm. Despite its importance, binge drinking is not well defined in the literature. The present study examines the proportions of respondents identified as binge drinkers by three separate measures: a 1-week retrospective drinking diary (RD), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and a quantity/frequency (QF) question. Overall, AUDIT detected the highest proportion of binge drinkers, followed by QF and RD. There was also good agreement between QF and RD, as well as QF and AUDIT. Ultimately, the measure of choice should be that which provides information most appropriate to the purposes of each study.     

Impact of Alcohol Tax Increase on Maryland College Students' Alcohol-Related Outcomes

Objective: This study A) assessed whether levels of alcohol-related disciplinary actions on college campuses changed among MD college students after the 2011 Maryland (MD) state alcohol tax increase from 6% to 9%, and B) determined which school-level factors impacted the magnitude of changes detected. Method: A quasi-experimental interrupted time series (ITS) analysis of panel data containing alcohol-related disciplinary actions on 33 MD college campuses in years 2006–2013. Negative binomial regression models were used to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference in counts of alcohol-related disciplinary actions comparing time before and after the tax increase. Results: The ITS anaysis showed an insignificant relationship between alcohol-related disciplinary actions and tax implementation (β = ?.27; p =.257) but indicated that alcohol-related disciplinary actions decreased significantly over the time under study (β = ?.05; p =.022). Discussion: Alcohol related disciplinary actions did decrease over time in the years of study, and this relationship was correlated with several school-level characteristics, including school price, school funding type, types of degrees awarded, and specialty. School price may serve as a proxy mediator or confounder of the effect of time on disciplinary actions.     

Changes Over One Semester in Drinking Game Playing and Alcohol Use and Problems in a College Student Sample

One-hundred ninety-five alcohol-using college students completed a questionnaire in early September, at the beginning of the fall semester, then completed a follow-up questionnaire in mid-November, near the end of the semester. The questionnaires included items on levels of alcohol use, the Eysenck I.7 measure of impulsiveness and venturesomeness, alcohol expectancies, perceived norms for alcohol use, reasons for drinking, and aspects of drinking game playing. As predicted, those students who were 18 years of age and younger, nearly all of them 1st-year students, significantly increased their levels of alcohol use during their first semester in college. While increases in reasons for drinking were significantly predictive of increased alcohol use and problems in first-year and older students, increases in expectancies of alcohol effects and in frequencies of drinking game playing were significantly predictive of increases in alcohol use and problems only for first-year students. The present results provide further evidence of the importance of drinking games in the socialization of college students into problematic alcohol use.     

The Social Consequences of Binge Drinking: A Comparison of Young Adults in Six European Countries

ABSTRACT

A considerable amount of survey information was available from general population surveys carried out in six countries between 2000 and 2005. These studies were conducted under the auspices of Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS). A total of 1,446 adults between 18 and 23 years of age and 2,482 adults between 24 and 32 years of age from the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Isle of Man, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom responded to questions about their drinking habits and the social consequences directly resulting from their drinking. Survey methods varied from quota sampling with face-to-face interviewing in Spain and the United Kingdom to telephone surveys in Denmark and Sweden. Response rates varied from 50% to 72%. “Binge” or “heavy episodic” drinking was defined as a usual amount on one occasion of more than 8 UK “units” for men and more than 6 units for women. Consequences investigated comprised relationship, health and financial problems, being asked to cut down on drinking, and being involved in a fight. In Denmark and Sweden, the group aged 24 to 32 years was less likely to be binge drinkers than the 18 to 23 year olds. In the other countries, there was little difference. There was also little difference between the age groups in frequency of drinking, but there were considerable variations in this respect between countries. People in the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Denmark were more likely to suffer at least one consequence than those in Spain and the Isle of Man. In Spain, there was little change between the age groups in this respect. Fights were most common in the United Kingdom. Being asked to cut down one's drinking was less common in Spain and Sweden than it was elsewhere. Findings are discussed in terms of the varied drinking cultures in the different countries.     

Trying to Lose Weight and Alcohol Misuse Among High School Girls: Findings From the U.S. National 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Background: Trying to lose weight has been associated with alcohol use among college-aged females. Excessive drinking along with purging as a method for weight control has been documented in this population. However, little is known about the relationship between alcohol use and trying to lose weight among high school girls. Objectives: To examine the relationship between trying to lose weight and past 30-day (1) alcohol use and (2) binge drinking (separately). Methods: Using data from the National 2011 YRBS, we examined these relationships among 5,106 girls aged 14–18+ who reported ever using alcohol. Survey-weighted iterative logistic regression models were conducted. Results: 44.0% of girls reported current alcohol use with 27.8% reporting binge drinking. While a significant relationship was not found between trying to lose weight and current alcohol use in the final multivariable model, a significant relationship was found between trying to lose weight and binge drinking (AOR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.02–1.52). Additional variables that were found to be associated with an increased odds of binge drinking included: being in 11th and 12th grades compared to being in 9th grade, screening positively for depression, and current cigarette use. Variables associated with a decreased odds included: talking to an adult/teacher about a problem, and identifying as Black/African American compared to White. Conclusions/Importance: Understanding the relationship between trying to lose weight and binge drinking among high school students is important, as these behaviors may be a precursor to risk behaviors later in life and need to be more fully examined.     

It's Game Time: Drinking Intentions,Alcohol Consumption,and Consequences at College Tailgates

Background: Alcohol consumption and related consequences is a problem on many college campuses. Tailgating parties before college sporting events may be contributing, however, little recent research has investigated alcohol consumption at these events. Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the drinking behaviors of college game day tailgate attendees and subsequent alcohol-related consequences. Methods: Participants (N = 89; 44.9% female) were recruited from tailgates at a university in the Midwest United States on college football game days during fall 2014. Participants provided a breath sample, completed a questionnaire, and were given the opportunity to participate in a follow-up survey (n = 62) to assess resulting alcohol-related consequences. Results: Over half of participants had BrACs greater than 0.000. However, one in three participants reported intentions to abstain from alcohol or to drink but not enough to get buzzed. Intoxication intentions were a significant and unique predictor of alcohol consumption and experience with alcohol-related consequences at follow-up. Conclusions/Importance: This study updates and extends the literature on alcohol-related consequences in the context of college football tailgates. The results suggest that consequences may be prevented through changes in intentions to become intoxicated.     

Parents Still Matter: The Role of Parental Attachment in Risky Drinking among College Students

This study longitudinally assessed the effects of parental attachment on alcohol-related risks across the first year of college. Greater attachment to mother was associated with lower alcohol risk while weaker attachment to mother was related to more drinking and consequences near the end of the first year, even when controlling for baseline drinking. Furthermore, gender moderated the relationship between attachment and consequences such that first-year men with weaker attachment reported experiencing more consequences than females or males with stronger attachment. Findings highlight the role of parental attachment in reducing risk and identify first-year males with low maternal attachment as a potential high-risk group.     

Tailgating and Pregaming by College Students with Alcohol Offenses: Patterns of Alcohol Use and Beliefs

Research indicates that pregaming (drinking before a social event) and tailgating (drinking before a sporting event) are two culturally ingrained alcohol use behaviors by college students. We examined the prevalence of these two activities in a sample of college students (N = 354) who violated campus alcohol policy and were mandated to receive an alcohol intervention in fall 2010. Results indicated that alcohol consumption and other risk factors were related to pregaming and tailgating. These findings are discussed in the context of clinical implications and future directions for research. This study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.     

Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Drinking Motives and Drinking Behaviors Among Korean College Students

College drinking is an important public health issue in many countries, especially in South Korea. This study aims to explore drinking motives and their relationship with drinking behaviors and drinking outcomes among Korean college students (N = 553). Utilizing a Web-based survey, this study found some similarities and differences relative to studies conducted in Western cultures. As previously observed, social and enhancement motives were the primary reasons for drinking, and enhancement motives were associated with drinking-related problems among Korean students. However, results differing from those of previous studies were revealed by comparing males and females: Korean male college students who drink to cope with stress tend to experience more alcohol-related problems, whereas Korean female college students tend to experience alcohol-related problems when drinking for enhancement motives. Implications for future research are discussed.     

I Can Play All Night: Examining the Relationship Between Perceived Tolerance and Drinking Game Alcohol Consumption

The present study examined the impact of perceived tolerance to alcohol on maximum alcohol consumption while playing drinking games. Participants were student drinkers (N=3,546) from two west coast universities. Among these students, 69.2% (n=2,290) reported playing a drinking game in the past month. Analyses demonstrated game players had higher perceived tolerances, and consumed more alcohol than non-game players. A regression model revealed that higher levels of perceived tolerance were related to increased maximal alcohol consumption while playing drinking games. Study limitations and implications for future research are discussed.