Psychological Correlates of Drinking Behavior in Social Drinker College Students

The social norms media approach is an intervention designed to change college students drinking behavior by correcting false perceptions through normative feedback. The present study is a preliminary assessment of a social norms interventions attempt to decrease drinking amounts in students making the transition to university life. Data were collected on three groups of first-year students: (a) spring 1999 for baseline freshmen drinking norms, (b) summer 1999 to assess incoming freshmen drinking patterns, and (c) spring 2000 as a follow-up to assess effectiveness of the intervention for freshmen who entered fall 1999. Results indicated that the majority of freshmen students consistently drank in a moderate range (05 drinks), yet consistently overestimated their peers drinking levels. Incoming freshmen had significantly higher levels of drinking and greater misperceptions than baseline university freshmen. Results suggest the drinking rates significantly decreased for incoming freshmen from summer 1999 compared to spring 2000 follow-up norms. Also, the results suggest that normative feedback on college students drinking may be needed at the high school level to correct faulty perceptions prior to entering a university environment.

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More Evidence for Psychological Correlates of Lexical Marking

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1974.34.3.845 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 845-846 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrew R. Gilpin ◽

Terry Walter Allen

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Psychological Correlates

25 college students were given a checklist listing names of 25 dimensions, and the lexically marked and unmarked antonyms describing the dimensions, e.g., evaluation: bad, good. Ss were instructed to choose which of each pair was closer in meaning to the dimension name. On 21 of the 25 dimensions, Ss chose the unmarked term, evidence indicating that they were able to utilize information about lexical marking, or some correlate thereof.

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Mathematical Modeling of the Spread of Alcoholism Among Colombian College Students

Ingeniería y Ciencia ◽

10.17230/ingciencia.16.32.9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (32) ◽

pp. 195-223

Author(s):

Edgardo Pérez

Keyword(s):

Mathematical Modeling ◽

College Students ◽

Mathematical Model ◽

Drinking Behavior ◽

Preventive Measure ◽

Nonlinear Mathematical Model ◽

Consumption Behavior ◽

Existence And Stability ◽

Drugs And Crime ◽

The Impact

In this paper, we present a nonlinear mathematical model, describing the spread of high-risk alcohol consumption behavior among college students in Colombia. We proved the existence and stability of the alcohol-free and drinking state equilibrium by means of Lyapunov function and LaSalle’s invariance principle. Also, we apply optimal control to study the impact of a preventive measure on the spread of drinking behavior among college students. Finally, we use numerical simulations and available data provided by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Colombian Ministry of Justice to validate the obtained mathematical model.

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Think-aloud testing of a novel safer drinking app for college students during COVID-19 (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.32716 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jessica Gomez Smith ◽

Nour Sami Alamiri ◽

Grace Biegger ◽

Christina Frederick ◽

Jennifer P. Halbert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Drinking Behavior ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Mobile App ◽

Think Aloud ◽

Risky Drinking ◽

Student Drinking ◽

Hazardous Alcohol ◽

Hazardous Alcohol Consumption ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND Hazardous alcohol consumption, and binge drinking in particular, continues to be common among college students, posing the greatestrisk for their health and safety. Despite widespread exposure to evidence-based preventive interventions among U.S. undergraduates, only modest and temporary effects on risky drinking occur. Formative studies have demonstrated that students want a more engaging intervention tool for risky drinking that can be used “just in time.” OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to test the appeal, relevance, and perceived utility of a draft mobile app for safer student drinking. METHODS Undergraduate student participants tested the draft mobile app via an interactive online prototype with hot spots that responded to their taps to mimic app functionality. They narrated their impressions, navigation, and comments in a standardized Think-Aloud procedure. After each round of Think-aloud interviews, researchers debriefed the investigators and developers to discuss findings and brainstorm app modifications. RESULTS Data indicated that minor changes to the functionality and aesthetics would improve usability of the app. Student testers recommended tailoring the app to the needs of college students and to aspects of the local university’s drinking culture. CONCLUSIONS Findings from this study will be synthesized with information gained from other formative work to determine the final app features. We will test the app in a pilot randomized trial to assess app usage and the impact of the app on college student drinking behavior over several months.

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The Drinking Behavior of College Students

NASPA Journal ◽

10.1080/00220973.1978.11071685 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 59-64

Author(s):

Ruth C. Engs ◽

David DeCoster ◽

Ralph V. Larson ◽

Philip McPheron

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Drinking Behavior

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Effects of Evaluative Conditioning on Implicit Evaluation of Alcohol and Drinking Behaviors: A Direct Replication

Alcohol and Alcoholism ◽

10.1093/alcalc/agaa009 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 55 (3) ◽

pp. 299-303

Author(s):

Nina Tello ◽

Nematollah Jaafari ◽

Armand Chatard

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Bayesian Analysis ◽

Drinking Behavior ◽

Evaluative Conditioning ◽

Original Study ◽

Alcoholic Beverages ◽

Heavy Drinkers ◽

Independent Replication ◽

Drinking Behaviors ◽

Reduced Drinking

Abstract Aims Recent research suggests that evaluative conditioning (EC) can change implicit evaluations of alcohol and reduce drinking behaviors among college students (Houben et al., 2010a). This research has been conceptually replicated in two previous studies. To date, however, no direct and independent replication of the original study has been performed. In this paper, we report a high-powered direct replication of Houben et al.’s (2010a) study. Method About 168 French college students took part in this preregistered study. Drinking behavior was assessed before and 2 weeks after the intervention. The intervention consisted of 120 trials of words related to alcoholic beverages or soft drinks paired with neutral, positive or negative pictures. The two conditions were factually equivalent and differed only in the repeated pairing between alcohol-related words and negative pictures; in the EC condition, but not in the control condition, alcohol-related words were systematically paired with negative pictures. Results EC did not change participants’ implicit evaluations of alcohol and drinking behaviors. However, EC reduced drinking behaviors among hazardous drinkers. Yet, further non-preregistered Bayesian analysis did not provide much support for this hypothesis. Conclusion This high-powered preregistered direct replication of Houben et al.’s (2010a) study suggests that the original effects are more fragile than initially thought. The effect of EC on drinking behaviors may be restricted to heavy drinkers, and we found no evidence that this effect is mediated by a change in implicit attitudes. It is necessary to perform further studies to test the original effects in clinical populations.

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Predicting College Student Drinking and Smoking Intentions With Cognitively Accessible Attitudes and Norms

Health Education & Behavior ◽

10.1177/1090198118818238 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 267-274 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Nancy Rhodes ◽

Bridget Potocki ◽

Sarah Thomas

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Linear Regression Analysis ◽

Drinking Behavior ◽

Peer Norms ◽

First Semester ◽

First Year College ◽

Student Drinking ◽

Effective Interventions ◽

Cognitive Accessibility ◽

First Year College Students

Understanding the factors that make college students more likely to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes is key to developing effective interventions in order to reduce these behaviors. This study sought to understand entering college students’ intentions to engage in smoking and drinking behavior by examining the cognitive accessibility (ease of retrieval from memory) of attitudes and norms for drinking. A sample of 413 first-year college students living in on-campus residence halls participated in the study in the first 2 weeks of their first semester of college. Reaction time measures of attitudes and norms assessed the cognitive accessibility of these constructs. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted. Results indicated that the cognitive accessibility of both attitudes and peer injunctive norms predicted behavioral intentions to drink and smoke. Our findings indicate that when injunctive peer norms are accessible from memory, they are better predictors of drinking and smoking intentions than descriptive norms or injunctive family norms. Our work provides important guidance for interventions to reduce risky behavior in college students and suggests that emphasizing social costs of these behaviors may be a promising strategy.

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