Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems on College Campuses (original) (raw)

Magnitude and Prevention of College Drinking and Related Problems

Alcohol Research Health the Journal of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2010

In 2002, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) issued a report entitled A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges. Data on the magnitude of college drinking problems in 1998 to 1999 were reported. From 1999 to 2005, the proportion of college students aged 18-24 who drank five or more drinks on a single occasion in the past month increased from 41.7 percent to 45.2 percent. The proportion who drove under the influence of alcohol increased from 26.1 percent to 29.2 percent. Higher percentages of 21 to 24yearolds engaged in those behaviors than 18 to 20yearolds, and between 1999 and 2005 the percentage increased among 21 to 24year olds but not among those aged 18-20. From 1998 to 2005, unintentional alcoholrelated injury deaths increased 3 percent (from 1,442 to 1,825) per 100,000 college students aged 18-24. Alcohol misuse by college students often harms other people through traffic crashes and sexual/other assaults. Research regarding ways to reduce college drinking problems has shown that individualoriented interventions, particularly screening and brief motivational counseling interventions, social norms interventions, environmental policy changes such as the minimum legal drinking age of 21 and drinkingand driving laws, and comprehensive college-community programs, can reduce college drinking and related morbidity and mortality. There is a growing need for colleges and surrounding communities to implement interventions shown through research to reduce alcohol misuse among collegeaged people. KEY WORDS: Underage drinking; college student; undergraduate student; problematic alcohol and other drug (AOD) use; AOD use (AODU) patterns; heavy episodic drinking; binge drinking; AODrelated (AODR) consequences; AODR injury; interventions; policy Magnitude and Prevention of College Drinking and Related Problems NIAAA published a landmark report on college drinking in 2002, with a followup report in 2007 (NIAAA, Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 2002; NIAAA 2007). This review updates these reports. It examines (1) trends from 1998 to 2005 in the magnitude of morbidity and mortality associated with college drinking among 18 to 24yearold students (earlier reports examined data from 1998 through 2001) and (2) interven tions established through scientific research to reduce alcohol misuse among college students.

Focus on: College drinking and related problems: magnitude and prevention of college drinking and related problems

Alcohol research & health : the journal of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2010

In 2002, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) issued a report entitled A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges. Data on the magnitude of college drinking problems in 1998 to 1999 were reported. From 1999 to 2005, the proportion of college students aged 18-24 who drank five or more drinks on a single occasion in the past month increased from 41.7 percent to 45.2 percent. The proportion who drove under the influence of alcohol increased from 26.1 percent to 29.2 percent. Higher percentages of 21- to 24-year-olds engaged in those behaviors than 18- to 20-year-olds, and between 1999 and 2005 the percentage increased among 21- to 24-year-olds but not among those aged 18-20. From 1998 to 2005, unintentional alcohol-related injury deaths increased 3 percent (from 1,442 to 1,825) per 100,000 college students aged 18-24. Alcohol misuse by college students often harms other people through traffic crashes and sexual/other assaults. Research...

Magnitude of and Trends in Alcohol-Related Mortality and Morbidity Among U.S. College Students Ages 18-24, 1998-2005

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Supplement, 2009

The aim of this study was to estimate, among college students ages 18-24, the numbers of alcohol-related unintentional injury deaths and other problems over the period from 1998 through 2005. Method: The analysis integrated data on 18-to 24-year-olds and college students from each of the following data sources: the National Highway Traffi c Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Injury Mortality Data, National Coroner Studies, census and college enrollment data, the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health, and the College Alcohol Study. Results: Among college students ages 18-24, alcoholrelated unintentional injury deaths increased 3% per 100,000 from 1,440 in 1998 to 1,825 in 2005. From 1999 to 2005, the proportions of college students ages 18-24 who reported consuming fi ve or more drinks on at least one occasion in the past month increased from 41.7% to 44.7%, and the proportions who drove under the infl uence of alcohol in the past year increased from 26.5% to 28.9%-7% and 9% proportional increases, respectively. The increases occurred among college students ages 21-24, not 18-20. In 2001, 599,000 (10.5%) full-time 4-year college students were injured because of drinking, 696,000 (12%) were hit or assaulted by another drinking college student, and 97,000 (2%) were victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape. A 2005 follow-up of students in schools with the highest proportions of heavy drinkers found no signifi cant changes in the proportions experiencing these events. Conclusions: The persistence of college drinking problems underscores an urgent need to implement prevention and counseling approaches identifi ed through research to reduce alcohol-related harms among college students and other young adults.

Heavy Drinking in College Students: Who Is at Risk and What Is Being Done About It?

The Journal of General Psychology, 2006

Problem drinking and related consequences are a major social issue plaguing college campuses across the United States. Each year, alcohol is responsible for fatalities, assaults, serious injuries, and arrests that occur among college students. The authors review and discuss the risk factors, drinking patterns, and consequences that are relevant to the general student population. In addition, the authors highlight individuals at an increased risk of experiencing alcohol-related problems, such as Greek-letter social organization members and student athletes. The authors also discuss the interventions that attempt to reduce risky drinking and related problems in these subgroups as well as the future directions for research.

The burden of alcohol use: excessive alcohol consumption and related consequences among college students

Alcohol research : current reviews, 2013

Research shows that multiple factors influence college drinking, from an individual's genetic susceptibility to the positive and negative effects of alcohol, alcohol use during high school, campus norms related to drinking, expectations regarding the benefits and detrimental effects of drinking, penalties for underage drinking, parental attitudes about drinking while at college, whether one is member of a Greek organization or involved in athletics, and conditions within the larger community that determine how accessible and affordable alcohol is. Consequences of college drinking include missed classes and lower grades, injuries, sexual assaults, overdoses, memory blackouts, changes in brain function, lingering cognitive deficits, and death. This article examines recent findings about the causes and consequences of excessive drinking among college students relative to their non-college peers and many of the strategies used to collect and analyze relevant data, as well as the inh...

Alcohol Risk Management in College Settings

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2010

Context-Potentially effective environmental strategies have been recommended to reduce heavy alcohol use among college students. However, studies to date on environmental prevention strategies are few in number and have been limited by their non-experimental designs, inadequate sample sizes, and lack of attention to settings where the majority of heavy drinking events occur.