Targeting Misperceptions of Descriptive Drinking Norms: Efficacy of a Computer-Delivered Personalized Normative Feedback Intervention.

The authors evaluated the efficacy of a computer-delivered personalized normative feedback intervention in reducing alcohol consumption among heavy-drinking college students. Participants included 252 students who were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group following a baseline assessment. Immediately after completing measures of reasons for drinking, perceived norms, and drinking behavior, participants in the intervention condition were provided with computerized information detailing their own drinking behavior, their perceptions of typical student drinking, and actual typical student drinking. Results indicated that normative feedback was effective in changing perceived norms and alcohol consumption at 3- and 6-month follow-up assessments. In addition, the intervention was somewhat more effective at 3-month follow-up among participants who drank more for social reasons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring College Students' Motives for Playing Drinking Games.

Students may choose to play drinking games not only for reasons related to alcohol consumption but also because of incentives related to other aspects of play (competition, fun, interpersonal dominance, etc.). College students (120 men and 167 women) completed measures of motives for playing (based on T. J. Johnson, S. Hamilton, & V. L. Sheets, 1999) and consequences of playing drinking games. Exploratory principal-components analysis identified 8 reasons for playing. Men and women differed in their endorsement of the factors. Motives for play directly predicted consequences of play independently of alcohol consumption. Specific motives predicted specific types of consequences. In multiple regression analyses, Conformity motives were negatively related to consequences and may represent a form of protective motive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting Alcohol Patterns in First-Year College Students Through Motivational Systems and Reasons for Drinking.

In the present study, a typological approach was used to identify patterns of alcohol use in a sample of 533 college freshmen students (     

Gender, Alcohol Consumption, and Differing Alcohol Expectancy Dimensions in College Drinkers.

Examinations of gender differences in alcohol expectancies among college drinkers typically have used self-report measures to assess single expectancy dimensions and often have been confounded by drinking level. This study examined gender differences in alcohol expectancies using 2 assessment methods. College students (N = 88) completed self-report questionnaires, including expectancy likelihood and subjective evaluation endorsements of expectancies, and a computerized expectancy accessibility task. Expectancy accessibility and endorsement were modestly correlated, with higher alcohol consumption and female gender linked to greater accessibility and endorsement of social enhancement expectancies. Gender moderated the relation between consumption and sociability expectancy accessibility; among men, heavier drinking was associated with more rapid activation of expectancies. Findings suggest complexity in associations among these variables and underscore the need to capture the multidimensionality of the expectancy construct and its relationship to alcohol use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moving Beyond the Keg Party: A Daily Process Study of College Student Drinking Motivations.

Theoretical models of alcohol consumption assert that young adults endorse multiple drinking motives, including drinking to cope with negative experiences and to enhance positive experiences. Social contacts may be important to both pathways. This study applied daily process methodology to determine the relationship between college student drinking in different contexts and daily social contacts and moods. Each afternoon for 3 weeks, 122 undergraduates (43% men, 57% women) logged onto a secure Web site during specified hours to report daily activities, moods, and contacts. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses provided support for motivational models and the context-specific nature of motivated drinking. Individual differences were revealed for each motivation. These findings highlight the importance of studying within-person processes using daily process designs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Protective Behavioral Strategies When Drinking Alcohol and Their Relationship to Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences in College Students.

Prior research has examined a number of individual characteristics (e.g., gender, family connectedness) that protect individuals from engaging in heavy drinking and experiencing negative alcohol-related consequences, but less is known about specific behavioral strategies that might also serve as protective factors. In this study, 556 undergraduate students completed the National College Health Assessment (American College Health Association, 2000) and answered questions regarding the use of specific protective behavioral strategies (PBS), alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related consequences. Results indicated that less frequent use of PBS was related to a greater likelihood of experiencing negative alcohol-related consequences, even after accounting for the effects of gender and alcohol consumption. These results suggest that PBS may be an important component of both prevention and treatment programs for college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Refining measurement in the study of social anxiety and student drinking: Who you are and why you drink determines your outcomes.

This study investigated inconsistencies in the literature regarding social anxiety and problematic drinking among college students. One hundred eighteen students (61% women) who experience anxiety in social or performance situations completed measures of social anxiety and a modified Timeline Followback that assessed the psychological context of drinking episodes and alcohol-related consequences. Results suggest that men who experience severe social anxiety drink less alcohol than men with lower levels of anxiety, whereas women high in social anxiety are likely to experience more alcohol-related consequences per drinking episode than women low in social anxiety, despite drinking similar amounts of alcohol. In addition, women with high social anxiety were found to experience more alcohol-related consequences than men with high social anxiety. These findings suggest that the inconsistencies noted in the literature on drinking to cope with social anxiety and alcohol-related consequences may reflect methodological differences and the failure to consider gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variation in the Drinking Trajectories of Freshmen College Students.

F. K. Del Boca, J. Darkes, P. E. Greenbaum, and M. S. Goldman (2004) examined temporal variations in drinking during the freshmen college year and the relationship of several risk factors to these variations. Here, using the same data, the authors investigate whether a single growth curve adequately characterizes the variability in individual drinking trajectories. Latent growth mixture modeling identified 5 drinking trajectory classes: light-stable, light-stable plus high holiday, medium-increasing, highdecreasing, and heavy-stable. In multivariate predictor analyses, gender (i.e., more women) and lower alcohol expectancies distinguished the light-stable class from other trajectories; only expectancies differentiated the high-decreasing from the heavy-stable and medium-increasing classes. These findings allow for improved identification of individuals at risk for developing problematic trajectories and for development of interventions tailored to specific drinker classes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining Masculinity Norms, Problem Drinking, and Athletic Involvement as Predictors of Sexual Aggression in College Men.

Male sexual aggression toward women is a serious social problem, particularly on college campuses. In this study, college men's sexually aggressive behavior and rape myth acceptance were examined using conformity to 11 masculine norms and 2 variables previously linked to sexual aggression: problem drinking and athletic involvement. Results indicated that men who use alcohol problematically and conform to specific masculine norms (i.e., having power over women, being a playboy, disdaining gay men, being dominant, being violent, and taking risks) tended to endorse rape myths and report sexually aggressive behavior. Additionally, men who reported higher levels of problematic alcohol use and risk taking were more likely to report sexually aggressive behavior without endorsing rape myths. Implications and recommendations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Up Close and Personal: Temporal Variability in the Drinking of Individual College Students During Their First Year.

Surveys have documented excessive drinking among college students and tracked annual changes in consumption over time. This study extended previous work by examining drinking changes during the freshman year, using latent growth curve (LGC) analysis to model individual change, and relating risk factors for heavy drinking to growth factors in the model. Retrospective monthly assessments of daily drinking were used to generate weekly estimates. Drinking varied considerably by week, apparently as a function of academic requirements and holidays. A 4-factor LGC model adequately fit the data. In univariate analyses, gender, race/ethnicity, alcohol expectancies, sensation seeking, residence, and data completeness predicted growth factors (ps     

Drink and Be Merry? Gender, Life Satisfaction, and Alcohol Consumption Among College Students.

This study examined the impact of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems on several domains of life satisfaction (LS) in a sample of 353 college students. Alcohol use was associated with lower general satisfaction and anticipated future satisfaction among women. Female abstainers reported higher general and anticipated future satisfaction than did female heavy drinkers. Female students' alcohol use was unrelated to their academic, family, dating, or social satisfaction. Drinking among men showed a positive, curvilinear relation to social satisfaction but was unrelated to other domains of LS. Alcohol-related problems were associated with decreased LS among both men and women. These findings suggest that alcohol use by young adults is associated with both positive and negative outcomes that may be gender specific. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevention of Heavy Drinking and Associated Negative Consequences Among Mandated and Voluntary College Students.

The Lifestyle Management Class (LMC) was evaluated as a universal and targeted alcohol prevention program among voluntary and mandated college students. The relative efficacy of peer- and professional-led group interventions was also tested in this randomized, controlled design. LMC participants showed decreases in driving after drinking relative to control participants. Changes in heavy drinking varied as a function of treatment condition, readiness to change, and gender, with a trend toward larger decreases among voluntary LMC participants high in readiness to change and a comparable though nonsignificant advantage for male LMC participants in the mandated sample. The LMC was comparably effective for mandated and voluntary students, with no clear advantage for peer- or professional-led groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social environmental selection as a mediator of gender, ethnic, and personality effects on college student drinking.

Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediational role of social environmental selection on alcohol use in cross-sectional samples of 447 students from a rural state university and 421 students from an urban private university. Results showed that male gender, White ethnicity, and sensation seeking were uniquely associated with greater alcohol use. Mediational analyses indicated that socioenvironmental factors (i.e., Greek involvement, friends' approval of drinking/getting drunk) were positively associated with alcohol use and significantly accounted for parts of the effects of ethnicity and sensation seeking, but not gender, on alcohol use. Results suggest that White students and those high on sensation seeking may drink more heavily in college, in part because they select social environments in which alcohol use is encouraged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Finding common ground for effective campus-based prevention.

This commentary reviews the controversy over use of the term binge drinking to describe college student alcohol consumption, argues for abandoning the term, and explains how doing so will help unify and reinvigorate campus-based prevention work. Binge drinking has been defined for men as 5 or more drinks in a row at least once in the previous 2 weeks and as 4 or more drinks for women. There is no scientific basis for focusing on this measure to the exclusion of other consumption measures; neither is there justification for labeling such consumption binge drinking, which reinforces an exaggerated view of student drinking. To build support for environmental management strategies to reduce alcohol-related problems, campus officials should avoid terminology that demonizes students and instead embrace the responsible majority of college students as an essential part of the solution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do College Students Drink More Than Their Non-College-Attending Peers? Evidence From a Population-Based Longitudinal Female Twin Study.

The association of college attendance with alcohol use and alcohol use disorders was examined in a population-based young adult female twin sample identified from a systematic search of birth records. College-attending women consumed a larger overall volume of alcohol than did their non-college-attending peers, but they were not more likely to be diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder. Significant associations between college attendance and alcohol involvement were probed using 3 different complementary research designs: multivariate cross-sectional analyses, longitudinal analyses of the precollege and college years, and cotwin-control analyses of twin pairs discordant for attending college. Although demographic and lifestyle characteristics accounted for most or all of the association between college attendance and alcohol involvement, there was 1 aspect of drinking behavior, occasionally consuming large quantities of alcohol, that remained significantly associated with college attendance even after controlling for these characteristics or for genetic and family background factors. These results are consistent with the conclusion that some aspect of the college experience may be an important environmental risk factor for this pattern of drinking among young adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential utility of three indexes of risky drinking for predicting alcohol problems in college students.

This study evaluated the relationship between alcohol-related problems and 3 indexes of risky drinking in college student drinkers: number of drinks consumed per week, frequency of binge drinking, and estimated blood alcohol levels (BALs). Use of 2 independent samples (N??=?204, N??=?181) allowed a cross-validation of obtained associations. Results indicated that neither binge drinking frequency nor BAL were more highly related to alcohol-related problems than was weekly drinking. Furthermore, BAL did not provide unique explanatory power in accounting for alcohol-related problems; mixed results were obtained regarding the relationship of binge drinking estimates with problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivational Interventions for Heavy Drinking College Students: Examining the Role of Discrepancy-Related Psychological Processes.

The authors examined the effects of a brief motivational intervention for heavy, episodic alcohol use on discrepancy-related psychological processes. Heavy-drinking college students (N = 73) were randomly assigned to a motivationally based intervention (MBI) or an assessment-only control (AC) condition. Cognitive (actual-ideal discrepancy) and affective (2 forms of cognitive dissonance) discrepancy processes were assessed at baseline and immediately following the experimental manipulation. At 6-week follow-up, MBI participants demonstrated significantly greater reductions in problematic drinking than AC participants. Moreover, actual-ideal discrepancy and negative, self-focused dissonance were significantly increased following the intervention (discomfort-related dissonance was not) and were correlated with outcome alcohol involvement. These discrepancy processes did not, however, mediate the relationship between condition and outcome. The findings lend some support to the role of discrepancy enhancement in drinking-related behavior change among college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reasons for abstaining or limiting drinking: A developmental perspective.

The cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between reasons for abstaining or limiting drinking (RALD) and abstention were examined in a 16-year longitudinal study (N = 489) of college students with and without a family history of alcohol problems. Results indicated that RALD based upon upbringing or religiosity were associated with increased rates of abstention, whereas RALD based upon perceived or experienced negative consequences of drinking were associated with lower rates of abstention and increased alcohol consumption among drinkers. In addition, changes in RALD over time coincided with alcohol consumption transitions. Abstainers who began drinking after turning 21 reported a decrease in the importance of RALD associated with loss of control and upbringing or religiosity compared to abstainers who continued to abstain after turning 21. Conversely, drinkers who began abstaining after leaving college reported an increase in the importance of RALD associated with loss of control and upbringing or religiosity compared to drinkers who continued to drink after leaving college. Examining the reciprocal influences of RALD on drinking outcomes extends previous research and may inform prevention and intervention programs among college drinkers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computer versus in-person intervention for students violating campus alcohol policy.

In this study, the authors evaluated the efficacy of a brief motivational intervention (BMI) and a computerized program for reducing drinking and related problems among college students sanctioned for alcohol violations. Referred students (N = 198, 46% women), stratified by gender, were randomly assigned to a BMI or to the Alcohol 101 Plus computer program. Data obtained at baseline, 1, 6, and 12 months were used to evaluate intervention efficacy. Planned analyses revealed 3 primary findings. First, women who received the BMI reduced drinking more than did women who received the computer intervention; in contrast, men's drinking reductions did not differ by condition. Second, readiness to change and hazardous drinking status predicted drinking reductions at 1 month postintervention, regardless of intervention. Third, by 1 year, drinking returned to presanction (baseline) levels, with no differences in recidivism between groups. Exploratory analyses revealed an overall mean reduction in drinking immediately after the sanction event and before taking part in an intervention. Furthermore, after the self-initiated reductions prompted by the sanction were accounted for, participation in the BMI but not the computer intervention was found to produce additional reduction in drinking and related consequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic and social motives and drinking behavior.

This longitudinal study of 1,447 first-time college students tested separate time-varying covariate models of the relations between academic and social motives/behaviors and alcohol use and related problems from senior year of high school through the end of the second year in college. Structural equation models identified small but significant inverse relations between academic motives/behaviors and alcohol use across all time points, with relations of somewhat larger magnitude between academic motives/behaviors and alcohol-related problems across all semesters other than senior year in high school. At all time points, there were much larger positive relations between social motives/behaviors and alcohol use across all semesters, with smaller but significant relations between social motives/behaviors and alcohol-related problems. Multi-group models found considerable consistency in the relations between motives/behaviors and alcohol-related outcomes across gender, race/ethnicity, and family history of alcohol problems, although academic motives/behaviors played a stronger protective role for women, and social motives were a more robust risk factor for Caucasian and Latino students and individuals with a positive family history of alcohol problems. Implications for alcohol prevention efforts among college students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)