Library Watch - On Substance Abuse and the College Campus

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Last Update: 18.12.04

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...on substance abuse and the college campus

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Winter 2005

Parental alcoholism: Relationships to adult attachment in college women and men. [rapid communication].

Kelley ML; Cash TF; Grant AR; Miles DL; Santos MT. Addictive Behaviors 29(8): 1633-1636, 2004. (11 refs.)
The present study of general and romantic adult attachment among 484 female and male college students compared those who resided with an alcohol-abusing parent prior to age 16 and those who did not. Participants completed the Relationship Style Questionnaire (RSQ; general adult attachment), Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R; romantic attachment), and the Children of Alcoholic Screening Test (CAST; perceived parental alcoholism). Results indicated that 23% of these young adults had lived with an alcohol-abusing parent, and relative to those who had not, they reported more anxiety and greater avoidance in romantic relationships and a more fearful style of general adult attachment. The implications of these findings in the context of the extant literature were discussed. Copyright 2004, Elsevier Science Ltd.

University student drinking: The role of motivational and social factors.

Orford J; Krishnan M; Balaam M; Everitt M; Van der Graaf K. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy 11(5): 407-421, 2004.
Aims: To investigate UK university student drinking in terms of social and motivational factors. Design: Quantitative and qualitative studies. Participants: Undergraduate students at a UK university: 50 'heavy drinkers' and 49 'light drinkers', equally distributed in terms of sex and year of study. Data: Questionnaire measures of drinking expectancies, perceived benefits and drawbacks of drinking, important people and activities; semi-structured interviews. Findings: Heavy drinkers scored higher than light drinkers on measures of tension reduction, sexual enhancement and dependency drinking expectancies. The top three reported benefits of drinking were social life, fun/humour, and self-confidence. Heavy drinkers perceived 'a lot' of drawbacks to their finances as a result of drinking, whereas for light drinkers the main drawbacks concerned physical wellbeing. Heavy drinkers were found to interact with a heavier drinking social network, receive more encouragement to drink from important people in their lives and to participate in more heavy drinking activities than light drinkers. A tentative model was developed from the qualitative study suggesting that social factors are important influences in the maintenance of heavy student drinking, in particular subtle forms of 'peer pressure', and increased self-confidence. Conclusions: Motivational factors, particularly the expectation of increased self-confidence, play an important role in the maintenance of heavy student drinking, but social factors are probably equally significant. The levels and patterns of heavy drinking found in the present sample are worrying and the findings have implications for attempts to reduce alcohol consumption by university students.

College students' reasons for not drinking and not playing drinking games.

Johnson TJ; Cohen EA. Substance Use & Misuse 39(7): 1137-1160, 2004.
Few studies have examined college students' reasons for not drinking, and no studies have addressed their reasons for not playing drinking games. This study developed measures of both constructs using a sample of 147 college students. Principal components analysis identified six Reasons for Not Drinking factors and five Reasons for Not Playing Drinking Games factors. Internal consistency and intercorrelations of the factors were examined. The factors correlated in theoretically meaningful directions with measures of alcohol consumption, alcohol outcome expectancies, reasons for drinking, self-esteem, and personality. Research findings are discussed in regards to their relevance to prevention and treatment strategies among the college population.

Predicting drinking behavior and alcohol-related problems among fraternity and sorority members: Examining the role of descriptive and injunctive norms.

Larimer ME; Turner AP; Mallett KA; Geisner IM. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 18(3): 203-212, 2004. (89 refs.)
The authors examined the relation between Greek students' perceptions of alcohol consumption in their pledge classes (descriptive norms) and acceptability of drinking (injunctive norms) and the ability of these normative influences to predict drinking behavior, alcohol-related negative consequences, and symptoms of alcohol dependence concurrently and prospectively over 1 year. Participants were 279 men and 303 women recruited from incoming pledge classes of 12 fraternities and 6 sororities, who completed measures of descriptive and injunctive norms, alcohol use, and consequences. Results revealed that descriptive norms significantly predicted concurrent drinking. After controlling for baseline drinking, injunctive norms significantly predicted drinking 1 year later and predicted alcohol-related consequences and dependency symptoms at baseline and follow-up. The potential to incorporate injunctive norms into preventive interventions is discussed.

Another look at heavy episodic drinking and alcohol use disorders among college and noncollege youth.

Dawson DA; Grant BF; Stinson FS; Chou PS. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 65(4): 477-488, 2004. (33 refs.)
Objective: To estimate rates of heavy episodic drinking, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence among U.S. adults 18-29 years of age and determine the relationship of these rates to student status and residence. Method: The analysis is based on data from a subsample of U.S. adults 18-29 years of age (N = 8,666; 4,849 female) who were interviewed as part of the 2001-02 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N = 43,093). Data were collected in personal interviews from a representative sample of adults 18 and older, living in households and selected group quarters in the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. Results: Of all adults 18-29 years of age, 73.1% reported any drinking in the past year, 39.6% reported any heavy episodic drinking, 21.1% reported heavy drinking more than once a month and 11.0% reported heavy drinking more than once a week. Among past-year drinkers, these correspond to rates of 54.3% for any heavy episodic drinking, 28.9% for heavy drinking more than once a month and 15.0% for heavy drinking more than once a week. Although rates of heavy episodic drinking were slightly higher for college students than for noncollege students (p < .01), differences according to place of residence were greater than differences according to student status. Overall, 7.0% of adults ages 18-29 met the DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse in the past year, and 9.2% met the criteria for alcohol dependence. The prevalence of abuse was highest among students living off campus (p < .01), and rates of dependence were highest among students living on campus (p < .01). Conclusions: Heavy episodic drinking and alcohol use disorders are youth as well as college phenomena. Prevention campaigns targeted at all youth are needed to supplement interventions conducted at the campus level.

A comparison of nonviolent, psychologically violent, and physically violent male college daters.

Lundeberg K; Stith SM; Penn CE; Ward DB. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 19(10): 1191-1200, 2004. (18 refs.)
This brief report explores dating violence by comparing three groups of male college students (nonabusive, psychologically abusive only, and physically abusive). These men were compared on measures of impulsivity, problems with alcohol, life satisfaction, anger management skills, history of witnessing abuse, history of experiencing abuse, and relationship satisfaction. Data for this analysis were obtained from a sample of 115 male college students. Differences between the three groups of men were found in the levels of problems with alcohol, relationship satisfaction, and anger management skills. Anger management skills best differentiated the three groups of men leading to the conclusion that dating violence prevention and intervention strategies with male college students should address anger management skills.

Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and amphetamine prevalence in college hockey players: Most report performance-enhancing use.

Bents RT; Tokish JM; Goldberg L. Physician and Sportsmedicine 32(9): 30-34, 2004. (20 refs.)
BACKGROUND: Performance-enhancing drugs are used by some athletes, even though the substances may be potentially dangerous and some are banned. OBJECTIVE: To assess the use of metabolic stimu-lants among collegiate hockey players. METHODS: Surveys were administered to college hockey players on five teams. Participation was voluntary, and respondents remained anonymous. The survey included questions regarding use of specific stimulants (eg, ephedrine, amphetamines, pseudoephedrine), awareness of potential side effects, and knowledge of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules. RESULTS: More than half (58%) of the 122 college hockey players who completed the survey reported past or present use of the specific stimulants. Almost half (46%) reported pseudoephedrine use to enhance performance, including 24% who indicated current use, and 38% reported ephedrine use, including 11% who admitted current use. Stimulant users had good knowledge about the potential side effects of ephedrine, including sudden death, hypertension, and insomnia. Nearly all (92%) stimulant users were aware of the current NCAA ban of ephedrine. Over 33% stated they would use a banned substance if it would help them get to the National Hockey League. CONCLUSION: A large number of collegiate hockey players admit to using metabolic stimulants despite knowledge of side effects and the NCAA ban on two of these substances. More effective educational interventions, perhaps coupled with a stronger testing policy, may be necessary to curb this potentially dangerous practice.

Web-based screening and brief intervention for hazardous drinking: A double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Kypri K; Saunders JB; Williams SM; McGee RO; Langley JD; Cashell-Smith ML et al. Addiction 99(11): 1410-1417, 2004. (25 refs.)
Background: Strong evidence exists for the efficacy of screening and brief intervention for reducing hazardous drinking. However, problems have been highlighted with respect to its implementation in health-care systems, not least of which is a reluctance of some doctors to discuss alcohol proactively with their patients. Aims: To determine the efficacy of a novel web-based screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) to reduce hazardous drinking. Design: A double-blind randomized controlled trial. Setting: A university student health service. Participants: A total of 167 students (1726 years) were recruited in the reception area and completed a 3-minute web-based screen including the Alcohol Use Disorder Identifiation Test (AUDIT) questionnaire. Of these, 112 tested positive, and 104 (52 females) who consented to follow-up were included in the trial. Measurements: Drinking frequency, typical occasion quantity, total volume, heavy episode frequency (females > 80 g ethanol, males > 120 g ethanol), number of personal problems, an academic problems score. Intervention: Participants were randomized to 1015 minutes of web-based assessment and personalized feedback on their drinking (intervention, n = 51) or to a leaflet-only control group (n = 53). Findings: Mean baseline AUDIT scores for control and intervention groups were 16.6 (SD = 6.0) and 16.6 (SD = 5.7). At 6 weeks, participants receiving e-SBI reported significantly lower total consumption (geometric mean ratio = 0.74; 95% confidence interval: 0.560.96), lower heavy episode frequency (0.63; 0.420.92) and fewer personal problems (0.70; 0.540.91). At 6 months personal problems remained lower (0.76; 0.600.97), although consumption did not differ significantly. At 6 months, academic problems were lower in the intervention group relative to controls (0.72; 0.511.02). Conclusions: e-SBI reduced hazardous drinking among university students, to an extent similar to that found for practitioner-delivered brief interventions in the general population. e-SBI offers promise as a strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm in a way that is non-intrusive, appealing to the target group, and capable of being incorporated into primary care. Research is required to replicate the findings, to determine the duration of intervention effects, and to investigate the mechanisms by which the intervention operates.

Another look at heavy episodic drinking and alcohol use disorders among college and noncollege youth.

Religiosity, alcohol expectancies, drinking motives and their interaction in the prediction of drinking among college students.

Galen LW; Rogers WM. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 65(4): 469-476, 2004. (44 refs.)
Objective: Several different mechanisms have been proposed to account for the consistent but moderate inverse relationship between religiosity and drinking, ranging from the direct proscriptions against alcohol in various faiths to social learning based on parental upbringing. Alcohol expectancies and drinking motives may be more proximal cognitive mechanisms that influence this relationship. Method: The present study, using 265 college undergraduates, gathered self-report data using the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol questionnaire, the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised and the Religious Orientation Scale-Revised. Results: Of religiosity measures, intrinsic religiosity most closely related to quantity of alcohol consumption. Participants in conservative religious denominations had higher negative expectancies and lower drinking motives. Several positive and negative expectancies as well as drinking motives partially mediated the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and alcohol consumption. Conclusions: These results suggest that individuals' religious beliefs have influences on their alcohol consumption through several separate mechanisms. Religiosity may have direct effects that reduce drinking, as well as indirect effects via expectancies and motivations to drink. Negative expectancies, in particular, may serve as a buffer to promote abstinence and to reduce drinking in individuals with greater religiosity.