Fluctuation in the sense of belongingness during college moderates within-person associations between perceived injunctive norms and subsequent drinking

Mattering, substance use, and addictive behaviors: review, analysis, and implications for treatment and prevention

In the current article, we examine mattering to others as a relational resource and discuss how feelings of not mattering are uniquely implicated in addiction and substance use. We describe the mattering construct and how it is conceptualized, and we comprehensively review existing evidence based primarily on research with adolescents that links feelings of not mattering with addictive tendencies in general, and specific tendencies (e.g., excessive drinking and drug use and excessive social media use). A central premise of this article is the need to take race and ethnicity into account when considering the potential link between feelings of not mattering and substance use among young people with minority status and various ethnicities who may be especially prone to feeling marginalized and insignificant as a result of adverse experiences reflecting being ostracized and not socially accepted. Potential models of drinking and addictive tendencies that can easily incorporate the mattering construct are also outlined to underscore the conceptual relevance of feelings of not mattering to others. Mattering is also considered in terms of how internalization (i.e., not mattering to oneself) potentiates impulsive and risky behavior. Our article concludes with discussion of the implications for treatment and prevention in addiction and substance use and directions for future research that should further illuminate the role of feelings of not mattering to others and not mattering to oneself.

College students' sense of belonging and alcohol use amidst COVID-19: Evidence from a 21-day daily diary study

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol use, combined with the heightened mental health crisis among college students highlighted during the pandemic, remains a significant public health concern. We examine (1) how college students' daily assessed sense of belonging with their institution, a key protective factor for better collegiate mental health, is associated with same-day alcohol-use behaviors (2) and how the associations are moderated by key sociodemographic characteristics relevant to this population (women, minoritized students, first-generation [FG], and students identifying as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer [LGBTQ]) amidst COVID-19.

METHOD

We used mixed models using data from a 21-day daily diary study of college students (N = 2,012) in Spring 2021.

RESULTS

Results revealed that on days when students felt more uncertainty about their sense of belonging to their college (i.e., low belonging), they were less likely to drink, and drink less overall. This effect was observed after students were back on campus after pandemic-related college closures ended. Heterogeneity by minoritized student subgroups were also observed.

CONCLUSIONS

College students' sense of belonging continues to be an important psychosocial determinant of health and health behaviors among young adults; at times in unintended ways. This reiterates the importance of examining dynamic relationships between belonging and population health. Public health significance statements: These results provide important insight into the linkages between a key psychosocial factor-students' sense of belonging in college-and their alcohol use patterns amidst COVID-19. Institutional programming and prevention efforts to curb alcohol misuse should be implemented with consideration of how those linkages may differ dynamically considering both between- and within-person variance in belonging.

Daily Associations Between Injunctive Drinking Norms and Alcohol Consumption

OBJECTIVE

Perception of others' approval of alcohol use (i.e., injunctive drinking norms) is strongly predictive of alcohol use, particularly among young adults. Although between-person injunctive norms predict alcohol use, there is evidence of within-person fluctuations in the relationship between norms and drinking. The current study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to test within-person, day-level associations between injunctive norms and alcohol use and to test whether social context moderated this association.

METHOD

Participants (n = 83, M age = 24.0 years, 50.9% female) completed a 2-week EMA protocol using a smartphone application. Injunctive norms, social context (type and gender of companions), and number of drinks consumed were assessed each morning following a drinking event. Multilevel models with repeated measures nested within participants tested main effects and interactions of between- and within-person injunctive norms, type of drinking companions, and gender of drinking companions on the number of drinks consumed.

RESULTS

Day-level injunctive norms were positively associated with drinking quantity over and above baseline norms. The effect of norms differed by social context, such that norms were only positively related to drinking quantity when drinking with a friend or romantic partner (vs. drinking alone). The gender of friends with whom participants drank did not moderate the effect of norms on quantity.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides one of the first examinations of daily fluctuations in injunctive drinking norms. Because norms represent a malleable target for intervention, results offer new information regarding possible intervention targets.

Parental Alcohol Communication and Student Drinking: Examining Potential Differences between Underage and Legal Drinking Age Students

BACKGROUND

We explored associations between parental alcohol communication (PCA) and student drinking behavior and protective behavioral strategies (PBS) use.

METHODS

College students in the United States, who had talked about alcohol with parents, (N = 251) completed an anonymous online survey in Fall 2021. Participants reported frequency of discussing 14 alcohol-related topics with parents, past 30-day drinking behaviors, and PBS use.

RESULTS

We identified two forms of PCA: general alcohol information and alcohol risk information, with alcohol risk information being more common than general alcohol information. PCA was not significantly associated with drinking behavior but was associated with two types of PBS. Specifically, general alcohol information was associated with greater use of serious harm reduction and stopping or limiting drinking strategies. Additionally, legal drinking age status moderated the associations between both forms of PCA and the use of stopping or limiting drinking strategies. In general, underage students stopping or limiting drinking strategies benefited from general alcohol information but not alcohol risk information. Legal drinking age students stopping or limiting drinking strategies benefited from alcohol risk information.

CONCLUSIONS

Among these students, PCA appears to have a greater impact on PBS use rather than drinking behavior. This may reflect a shift in students' beliefs about parental authority over alcohol and parents' acceptance of alcohol use by their children.

Low levels of fitting in on campus moderates the relationship between enhancement drinking motives and drinks per week among college students

The first year of college is often marked by increased levels of alcohol consumption; first-year students also vary in their sense of fitting in on campus. Research has amply documented the links between social and enhancement drinking motives with various alcohol outcomes among college students. However, it is unclear how perceived levels of fitting in on campus potentially buffers or amplifies the relationship between drinking motives and drinking behavior. We explored whether perceptions of fitting in on campus moderated effects of social and/or enhancement drinking motives on drinks per week. A sample of 121 heavy drinking first year college students (50 % female, 58 % non-Latinx White, M = 18 years of age) were assessed twice in their first semester (baseline, 3 months) in the context of an alcohol-specific intervention. Hierarchical linear regressions were conducted to test whether drinking motives (social and enhancement) at baseline prospectively predicted drinks per week at 3 months. We hypothesized a positive association between both drinking motives and drinks per week; whether fitting in moderates these relationships was exploratory. Regression analyses yielded non-significant main effects of social motives, enhancement motives, and feelings of fitting in on drinks per week. There was no significant interaction for social motives, but the interaction between enhancement motives and fitting in was significant. Participants with a low sense of fitting in had a strong positive relationship between enhancement motives and drinks per week. Improving perceptions of fitting in for first-year college students may potentially reduce the association between enhancement drinking motives and drinks per week.

Longitudinal associations between descriptive and injunctive norms on college drinking

Perceived norms of drinking prevalence (descriptive norms) and approval (injunctive norms) are among the most robust predictors of college student drinking, but the dynamic fluctuations of these relationships over time are less understood. We examined longitudinal associations of descriptive and injunctive norms on alcohol consumption, disaggregating within-person fluctuations from between-person associations. Participants were 593 heavy drinking college students who completed measures of perceived descriptive and injunctive norms and drinking at baseline, one month, three months, six months, and 12 months. Longitudinal multilevel model analyses revealed that, at the between-person level, only descriptive norms predicted drinking. In contrast, both descriptive and injunctive norms at the within-person level predicted weekly drinking. The findings are the first to examine between- and within-person effects of descriptive and injunctive norms simultaneously on drinking and suggest that future college drinking interventions using normative influence would benefit from recognizing and incorporating within-person fluctuations in perceived norms.