|
|
..on substance use and the college campus
|
|
www.ProjectCork.org
|
Fall 2003
|
Education of key personnel in student pubs leads to a decrease
in alcohol consumption among the patrons: A randomized controlled
trial.
Johnsson KO; Berglund M. Addiction 98(5): 627-633, 2003.
(24 refs.)
Aims: To decrease alcohol consumption among patrons in student pubs by server-training
programmes. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: University campus.
Participants: A total of 1322 students visiting local student pubs during ordinary
pub evenings. Intervention: Educational programmes were given to bartenders (n
= 40) in a randomized design in six of 12 pubs on a university campus. Bartenders
in control pubs were not given the programme. Measurements: Breath alcohol concentration
(BAC), expressed in percentage, among the patrons and the reported social atmosphere
in the pub ('high', 'cosy' and 'rowdy') measured on a visual analogue scale in
the pub before and after the intervention programme was given. Findings: BACs
of patrons in the intervention pubs were reduced by more than those of the patrons
in the control pubs at a 1-month follow-up. The mean difference in BAC between
intervention and control groups was -0.011% (95% confidence interval, 0.022-0.000).
The intervention group also decreased more in reported level of 'rowdy' social
atmosphere than did the control group. The mean difference was -6 points (95%
confidence interval -11 to -1). No differences were found in reported 'cosy'
and 'high' atmosphere. Conclu-sion: Alcohol levels among the patrons were decreased
and the 'rowdy' social atmosphere reduced in the inter-vention group. Server-training
programmes for personnel in student pubs could be a component in the prevention
of alcohol problems in university student populations.
Copyright 2003, Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol
and Other Drugs.
Adolescent alcohol-use trajectories in the transition from high school.
Toumbourou JW; Williams IR; Snow PC; White VM. Drug and Alcohol Review 22(2):
111-116, 2003. (21 refs.)
A cohort of 3300 students from high schools across Victoria, Australia, were
surveyed regarding their patterns of alcohol consumption from mid-1993 to 1995.
The first wave of data was collected halfway through the students' final year
of school (year 12). Students were then resurveyed 3 months following school
completion and on two subsequent occasions, each separated by 6-month intervals.
Analysis of the four waves of data indicated that five longitudinal patterns
(trajectories) characterized temporal trends in male and female alcohol use through
the transition from high school. Stable non-use trajectories were evident for
17% of males and 16% of females. Trajectories of less than weekly use charac-terized
45% of females and 46% of males, and showed little tendency to escalate toward
harmful use. Among those using alcohol on a weekly or more frequent basis in
high school, with few exceptions, use continued with at least the same frequency,
but the quantity of alcohol consumed tended to escalate over time toward harmful
levels. Overall, findings indicate that patterns of alcohol use tend to be stable
over time, and more frequent alcohol use during the final year of high school
tends to precede potentially harmful alcohol use following high school. Encouraging
those high school students who consume alcohol once per week or more often to
use alcohol on a less than weekly basis may be a valuable yet neglected harm
minimization strategy.
Copyright 2003, Australian Medical and Professional Society
on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
The relationship between college students' schema regarding alcohol use,
their television viewing patterns, and their previous experience with alcohol.
Kean LG; Albada KF. Health Communication 15(3): 277-298, 2003. (31 refs.)
Two hundred college students participated in an experiment investigating how
individuals use television and real world experiences to construct alcohol use
schema. Students were asked to write a story about a student who had a difficult
day and, on arriving home, fixed himself a drink. In randomly assigned conditions,
directions led the student to believe this was to be either a real world scenario
or the setting for a television episode. Stories were coded for setting and social
nature of use, quantity of use, consequences (both severity and valence), and
overall tone. In general, stories characterized alcohol use as heavy, social,
relaxing, and resulting in mostly minor consequences. Story characteristics did
not differ based on direction type (real world vs, TV scenario). Students also
completed a series of measures regarding television viewing habits, attitudes
about alcohol use, and past experiences with use. Regarding television viewing
patterns, those who watched more television overall created stories with more
alcohol use. Viewing of dramas in particular was associated with less severe
consequences as a result of use. In terms of personal experience with use, individuals
who had driven under the influence of alcohol were more likely to construct a
story with a positive tone and those who had passed out from drinking were less
likely to conclude their stories with a moral tale discouraging drinking. The
conclusion of this research is that both personal and observed experiences are
important influencing factors in individuals' schema regarding alcohol use.
Copyright 2003, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
US public universities' compliance with recommended tobacco-control policies.
Halperin AC; Rigotti NA. Journal of American College Health 51(5): 181-188,
2003. (26 refs.)
To address the rise in tobacco use among college students, several national health
organizations, including the American College Health Association, recommend that
colleges enact smoking bans in and around all campus buildings, including student
housing, and prohibit the sale, advertisement, and promotion of tobacco products
on campus. Key informants at 50 US public universities, one from each state,
Were interviewed during the 2001/2002 academic year to assess the prevalence
of these recommended policies. More than half (54%) of the colleges banned smoking
in all campus buildings and student residences, 68% had no tobacco sales on campus,
and 32% of the schools' newspapers did not accept tobacco advertising. Regional
differences in adoption of these campus tobacco-control policies were present.
Although this national sample of public universities had implemented some of
the recommended policies, they must take further actions to comply fully with
campus tobacco-control guidelines.
Copyright 2003, Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation.
College students' early cessation from episodic heavy drinking: Prevalence
and correlates.
Steinman KJ. Journal of American College Health 51(5): 197-204, 2003.
(27 refs.)
The author surveyed 788 undergraduates at a large public university (overall
response rate 54%) to (1) estimate the proportion of college students who cease
engaging in a pattern of episodic heavy drinking (EHD) and (2) identify individual
and contextual factors associated with early cessation. He used a staging algorithm
to classify respondents into 4 stages of EHD cessation. Of the 60% who had engaged
in EHD, 64% continued to drink heavily with no intention of stopping, 12% continued
to drink heavily but were thinking about stopping, 14% had ceased temporarily,
and 9% had ceased permanently. Students who had stopped EHD perceived more risks
and fewer benefits associated with alcohol misuse, but they did not differ in
their perceptions of normative alcohol use on campus. Many collegiate heavy drinkers
cease EHD before graduation, and others may be predisposed to moderate their
alcohol use. Tailored interventions that alter alcohol expectancies may facilitate
early cessation from EHD.
Copyright 2003, Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation.
The relationship between the quantity of alcohol consumed and the severity
of sexual assaults committed by college men.
Abbey A; Clinton-Sherrod AM; McAuslan P; Zawacki T; Buck PO. Journal of Interpersonal
Violence 18(7): 813-833, 2003. (42 refs.)
Researchers have suggested that intoxicated perpetrators may act more violently
than other perpetrators, although empirical findings have been mixed. Past research
has focused on whether or not alcohol was consumed, rather than the quantity
consumed, and this may explain these inconsistent findings. The authors hypothesized
that the quantity of alcohol consumed would have a curvilinear relationship to
the severity of the assault. Data were collected from 113 college men who reported
that they had committed a sexual assault since the age of 14. The quantity of
alcohol that perpetrators consumed during the assault was linearly related to
how much aggression they used and was curvilinearly related to the type of sexual
assault committed. The quantity of alcohol that victims consumed during the assault
was linearly related to the type of sexual assault committed. Strategies for
improving assessment of alcohol consumption in sexual assault research are discussed.
Copyright 2003, Sage Publications, Inc.
Pluralistic ignorance and hooking up.
Lambert TA; Kahn AS; Apple KJ. Journal of Sex Research 40(2): 129-133,
2003. (25 refs.)
"Hooking up"-when two people agree to engage in sexual behavior for which there
is no future commitment-has become popular on college campuses. In this study
we examined the extent to which pluralistic ignorance affects hooking up. One
hundred thirty-six female and 128 male college students answered questions regarding
their own comfort and their perceived peers' comfort in engaging in a variety
of sexual behaviors while hooking up. We hypothesized and found that both women
and men rated their peers as being more comfortable engaging in these behaviors
than they rated themselves. Men expressed more comfort than did women in engaging
in these behaviors, and both sexes overestimated the other gender's comfort with
hooking up behaviors. Pluralistic ignorance appears to apply to hooking up on
college campuses, and we explore some potential consequences of pluralistic ignorance
in this context.
Copyright 2003, Society for the Scientific Study of Sex.
Alcohol use and related harm among older adolescents treated in an emergency
department: The importance of alcohol status and college status.
Barnett NP; Monti PM; Spirito A; Colby SM; Rohsenow DJ; Ruffolo L et al. Journal
of Studies on Alcohol 64(3): 342-349, 2003. (31 refs.)
Objective: Patients treated in an urban emergency department were studied to
determine if college status, gender and having alcohol as a reason for medical
treatment were related to alcohol use and related problem behaviors. Method:
Patients ages 18-19 years (N = 250; 55% men) who had or had not been drinking
alcohol prior to the event that precipitated their medical treatment were assessed
on their alcohol use, alcohol-related problems and drug use. Results: There were
high levels of alcohol use, tobacco use and other drug use in the sample, regardless
of the reason for medical treatment. Analyses consistently showed that patients
treated for alcohol-related reasons had more severe drinking patterns and problems
than patients who were alcohol negative. Patients not enrolled in college showed
similar patterns of alcohol consumption as their college-attending peers, but
had more severe alcohol-related behaviors and problems. Few gender differences
were found and no interactions were found between gender, alcohol status and
college status. Conclusions: Findings indicate that older adolescents who receive
medical treatment for alcohol use are not inexperienced drinkers. Furthermore,
in this convenience sample, college students did not appear to be at greater
risk for substance use or problems. Findings underscore the potential usefulness
of alcohol intervention programs for alcohol-involved medical patients, and the
need to attend to the alcohol and drug use of nonstudent populations.
Copyright 2003, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc. Used with
permission.
A failed norms social marketing campaign.
Clapp JD; Lange JE; Russell C; Shillington A; Voas RB. Journal of Studies
on Alcohol 64(3): 409-414, 2003. (18 refs.)
Objective: In this article we test the efficacy of an intensive norms social
marketing campaign to reduce heavy drinking among college students living in
a residence hall. Method: We employed a pretest-posttest nonequivalent comparison
group design. The study was conducted in two (experimental and comparison) comparable
residence halls located in a large urban public university. We attempted a census
at each hall, and pre- and postintervention data were collected in public areas
of each residence hall. Relative sample sizes were approximately 60% in the experimental
hall (both waves) and 38% in the comparison hall. Results: The campaign successfully
corrected students' misperceptions of drinking norms but had no effects, or counterintuitive
effects, on drinking behaviors. Conclusions: Despite the popularity of this approach,
universities would be prudent to proceed with care before adopting this approach
wholesale.
Copyright 2003, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc. Used with
permission.
Perception and reality: A national evaluation of social norms marketing interventions
to reduce college students' heavy alcohol use.
Wechsler H; Nelson TF; Lee JE; Seibring M; Lewis C; Keeling RP. Journal of
Studies on Alcohol 64(4): 484-494, 2003. (53 refs.)
Objective: To evaluate a widely used intervention to reduce college student alcohol
use, we studied student drinking patterns at colleges that employed social norms
marketing programs and those that did not. Method: We examined responses of students
in the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS) 1997, 1999
and 2001 data sets at 37 colleges that employed social norms marketing programs
and at 61 that did not. Information about the students' drinking behavior and
their familiarity with social norms marketing messages at their schools was analyzed,
as were college administrators' reports about the implementation of social norms
marketing campaigns. Schools were grouped on the basis of student reports of
exposure to programmatic materials. Trend analyses were conducted on seven standard
measures of alcohol consumption, including annual and 30-day use, frequency,
usual quantity and volume consumed, heavy episodic use, and drunkenness. Results:
Almost half of the CAS colleges sampled adopted social norms programs. Those
that did were more likely to have large enrollments, not to be religiously affiliated
and to have high rates of alcohol use. No decreases were noted in any of the
seven measures of alcohol use at schools with social norms programs, even when
student exposure and length of program existence were considered. Increases in
measures of monthly alcohol use and total volume consumed, however, were observed
at schools employing social norms programs. Conclusions: This study does not
provide evidence to support the effectiveness of social norms marketing programs,
as currently utilized, in reducing alcohol use among college students.
Copyright 2003, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc.
Ecstasy use among college undergraduates: Gender, race and sexual identity.
Boyd CJ; McCabe SE; d'Arcy H. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 24(3):
209-215, 2003. (16 refs.)
We examined a random sample (N = 3606) of undergraduates at one large midwestern
university and explored correlates of ecstasy use and how use varied by gender,
race, and sexual identity. Approximately 10% of the sample used ecstasy in their
lifetime; 7% had used within the past year and 3% within the past month. Ecstasy
was the second most likely illicit drug to be used, marijuana being the first.
Multivariate logistic regression indicated that while men and women were equally
likely to have used ecstasy, excessive partying, sexual identity, and grade point
average were strongly correlated with ecstasy use. After adjusting for several
factors, the number of sexual partners increased the likelihood of ecstasy use,
as did self-reported sexual identity; gay, lesbian, and bisexual students were
more than two times as likely to have used ecstasy in the past year. Significant
relationships existed between ecstasy use and other substance use such as binge
drinking, marijuana use, and cigarette smoking. Implications for interventions
are discussed.
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science.
Descriptive and injunctive norms in college drinking: A meta-analytic integration.
Borsari B; Carey KB. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 64(3): 331-341, 2003.
(68 refs.)
Objective: Many college students overestimate both the drinking behaviors (descriptive
norms) and the approval of drinking (injunctive norms) of their peers. As a result,
consistent self-other discrepancies (SODs) have been observed, in which self-perceptions
of drinking behaviors and approval of drinking usually are lower than comparable
judgments of others. These SODs form the foundation of the currently popular "social
norms approach" to alcohol abuse prevention, which conveys to students the actual
campus norms regarding drinking behaviors and approval of alcohol use. However,
little attention has been paid to the factors that can influence the magnitude
of SODs. This research was conducted to address these issues. Method: This meta-analytic
integration of 23 studies evaluated the influence of five predictors of SODs:
norm type (injunctive or descriptive), gender, reference group, question specificity
and campus size. These studies rendered 102 separate tests of SODs in descriptive
and injunctive forms, representing the responses of 53,825 participants. Results:
All five predictors were significantly related to self-other differences in the
perception of norms. Greater SODs were evident for injunctive norms, estimates
by women, distal reference groups and nonspecific quest-ions, as well as on smaller
campuses. Conclusions: More systematic attention should be given to how norms
are assessed. In particular, SODs can be maximized or minimized, depending on
the specificity of the behaviors/attitudes evaluated and the reference groups
chosen for comparison.
Copyright 2003, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc. Used with
permission.
Missing the target: How performance-enhancing drugs go unnoticed and engender
the lives of athletes.
Walker ET. Villanova Sports and Entertainment Law Journal 10(1): 181-209,
2003. (180 refs.)
This Comment focuses on the anti-doping policies of different athletic organizations
and groups within both the amateur and professional ranks. Section II examines
the drug testing policies of assorted athletic settings, using high school athletics,
the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA"), and the World Anti-Doping
Agency ("WADA") as examples of amateur sports, as well as the NFL and MLB to
contrast the anti-doping policies that exist within the professional sports arena.
n12 Section III discusses the frustrations encountered by these policies, using
the field of available performance-enhancing drugs as a gauge for the policies'
successes and failures. Section IV briefly summarizes the shortcomings of contemporary
anti-doping policies, and suggests ways organizations can improve their efforts
to eradicate the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Copyright 2003, Villanova University.
|
