High-risk alcohol use behavior and daily academic effort among college students

With widespread concern for increased alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a pressing need to examine changes in young adults’ alcohol use and to identify antecedents of increased use. We tested the hypothesis that self-reported changes in alcohol use during the pandemic (frequency, quantity, heavy episodic drinking) would relate to perceptions of peers’ changes in alcohol use. In April of 2020, 507 college students self-reported changes in their alcohol use and perceived changes in use for typical students at their university (i.e., norms). Most students in our sample reported decreased alcohol use and perceived decreases in peers’ alcohol use. Perceptions of peers’ changes in alcohol use behavior strongly related to changes in students’ own alcohol use. Findings provide strong support for norms-based strategies that can correct normative misperceptions by highlighting the fact that most college students are not in fact engaging in heavier alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Preventing High-Risk Drinking among College Students: A Social Marketing Case Study

Social Marketing Quarterly ◽

10.1080/15245004.2010.522764 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 92-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Tavis J. Glassman ◽

Virginia Dodd ◽

Eleanor Maureen Miller ◽

Robert E. Braun

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Emergency Department ◽

High Risk ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Social Marketing ◽

Drinking And Driving ◽

The Social ◽

Excessive Alcohol ◽

High Risk Drinking

Investigators implemented a social marketing intervention to reduce alcohol consumption at a large university in the southeastern United States. The objective was to decrease high-risk drinking and drinking and driving and to change the perception that alcohol use increases sexual opportunities among college students. Formative research revealed that high-risk college students associate undesirable social consequences with excessive drinking (e.g., embarrassing oneself, annoying peers, offending the other sex, or burdening friends). An intervention was developed in which the product was avoiding the social stigma associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Promotional materials illustrating the social repercussions associated with excessive alcohol use and promoting the advantages of moderating one's drinking were disseminated in popular student venues; price was raised by increased law enforcement; and place was addressed by providing alcohol-free alternative activities. Evaluation included a time-series design in which students completed an anonymous online standard alcohol and drug survey and reviewing campus records of drinking under the influence (DUI) citations, alcohol-related judicial violations, and emergency department transports for alcohol overdose. Self-reported high-risk drinking, drinking and driving, and the perception that alcohol facilitates sexual opportunity rates decreased 33%, 45%, and 21%, respectively. DUI violations, alcohol-related judicial violations, and student transports to the emergency department for alcohol overdose decreased 13%, 28%, and 37%, respectively. Programmatic goals and objectives were met. Social marketing interventions appear to be a promising and cost-effective means to reduce high-risk drinking and the associated consequences among college students. Addressing social ramifications appears to be more motivating than conveying the prevalence of high-risk drinking.

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Young Adults’ Physical Distancing Behaviors During the Initial Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Adherence to Guidelines and Associations With Alcohol Use Behavior

Emerging Adulthood ◽

10.1177/21676968211004679 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 216769682110046

Author(s):

Clare Einberger ◽

Scott Graupensperger ◽

Christine M. Lee

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Young Adults ◽

High Risk ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Heavy Episodic Drinking ◽

Self Report ◽

Adult Behavior ◽

Health Communities ◽

High Risk Drinking ◽

Use Behavior

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific and public health communities have become increasingly focused on understanding young adults’ physical distancing behaviors and the role that young adults have on viral potentiation and community spread. In the present study, we surveyed a group of 560 young adults (ages 22-28) from the greater Seattle area in April 2020, during statewide “shelter-in-place” recommendations, to examine young adults’ self-reported adherence to physical distancing guidelines. Self-report measures were used to identify strong adherers and poor adherers, which we then compared in terms of engagement in specific physical distancing behaviors and alcohol use behaviors pertaining to physical distancing adherence. We found that most young adults are classified as strong adherers, and that poor adherers reported more frequent violations of physical distancing guidelines including having friends over to their residence or going over to other residences. Poor adherers were also significantly more likely to engage in high-risk alcohol use behavior, such as heavy episodic drinking, compared to those young adults who were classified as strong adherers. Our results provide initial evidence that young adults who engage in high-risk drinking may be at greater risk for non-adherence to government recommended physical distancing guidelines. This deeper understanding of young adult behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic can better inform public health outreach to increase physical distancing adherence currently, as well as in preparation for future contagious health crises that may require societal-level adherence to behavioral guidelines.

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High Trait Attention Promotes Resilience and Reduces Binge Drinking Among College Students With a Family History of Alcohol Use Disorder

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.672863 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Amanda Elton ◽

J. Hunter Allen ◽

Mya Yorke ◽

Farhan Khan ◽

Qiaosen Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Family History ◽

High Risk ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Binge Drinking ◽

Alcohol Use Disorder ◽

Familial Risk ◽

Resilience Scale ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Scale Scores

Binge patterns of alcohol use among post-high school emerging adults are associated with both immediate negative consequences and increased risk of long-term drinking problems, particularly among individuals with a family history (FH) of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Therefore, the developmental time period of emerging adulthood, paired with the high-risk environment of college campuses, represents an important target for interventions. Attentional ability has recently emerged as a mediator of resilience to stress-related psychopathology and offers a potential neurocognitive target for interventions. We tested the hypothesis that attentional ability promotes resilience to binge drinking in a sample of 464 college students with (n = 221) or without (n = 243) familial risk for AUD. Two-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) tested effects of FH and self-reported binge drinking on attention scores from the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). In addition, mediation analyses tested whether BIS attention scores mediated the relationship between Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale scores and binge drinking. ANCOVA results indicated a significant FH-by-binge drinking interaction (p = 0.008) in which FH positive subjects who did not binge drink had the fewest attention problems, consistent with a marker of resilience. Furthermore, BIS attention scores significantly mediated the effect of Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale scores on binge drinking, with stronger effects in FH positive subjects (p < 0.001) than FH negative subjects (p = 0.49). The findings suggest that attention promotes resilience to binge drinking in individuals with familial risk for AUD. Interventions targeting attentional ability in this high-risk population, particularly FH positive individuals with attention deficits, may serve to reduce binge drinking and its consequences.

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