Assessing alcohol use in college: is it time for a new approach to identify risky drinking behavior?

Frequency of Binge Drinking and Perception of Peer Alcohol Use: A Survey of University Students in a Western Canadian Province

OBJECTIVES

College and university student binge drinking is a critical health issue, and studies demonstrate students perceive high rates of drinking among their peers. High alcohol consumption and binge drinking are normalized throughout college and university, and there are gross misperceptions of perceived alcohol use among peers. The purpose of our study was to examine differences in perceptions of peer alcohol use after grouping students based on their frequency of binge drinking over a 2-week period.

METHODS

A one-way analysis of variance test was used to compare the differences in the perception of peer alcohol use after grouping students by their frequency of binge drinking.

RESULTS

Students who binge drink have significantly higher perceptions of peer alcohol use than their non-binge-drinking and abstaining peers.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide direction toward the feasibility of using perceptions of peer alcohol use to identify at-risk students to curtail dangerous drinking behavior.

Alcohol expectancies and drinking behaviors among college students with disordered eating

OBJECTIVE

The authors investigated binge drinking, alcohol expectancies, and risky and protective drinking behaviors in relation to disordered eating behaviors in male and female college students.

PARTICIPANTS

The full sample consisted of 7,720 undergraduate students, 18 to 22 years of age. Drinking behaviors were analyzed in 4,592 recent drinkers.

METHODS

Participants anonymously completed a survey as part of a universal alcohol abuse prevention program between September 2007 and April 2008.

RESULTS

Co-occurring disordered eating behaviors and binge drinking characterized 17.1% of males and 19.0% of females. Rates of binge drinking were higher in those with disordered eating behaviors. Students with disordered eating behaviors also had more positive and negative alcohol expectancies and engaged in more risky and fewer protective drinking behaviors than their counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS

Students with disordered eating behaviors have outcome expectancies and behavior patterns associated with problematic drinking. These findings may enhance prevention and intervention programs.