Changing the Focus of College Alcohol Prevention Programs

Heldref Publications. 1319 Eighteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036-1802. Tel: 800-365-9753; Tel: 202-296-6267; Fax: 202-293-6130; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.heldref.org

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4

Prevention; Discussion Groups; Peer Counseling; Peer Influence; Alcoholism; Drinking; Alcohol Education; College Students; Student Behavior; At Risk Persons; Health Behavior; Social Attitudes; Social Behavior; Behavior Change; Environmental Influences; School Community Relationship; Social Influences

0744-8481

Two influential formulations concerning college alcohol problems emphasize seemingly conflicting views about the magnitude of college alcohol abuse. One view insists that binge drinking is pervasive and shows no sign of decline. The other is based on the result from the College Alcohol Survey (CAS) which showed that just under half (44%) of students surveyed had engaged in what they termed "binge drinking" or what others refer to as "heavy episodic drinking" (5+ drinks for men and 4+ for women during a single drinking occasion) during the two weeks before the survey. These two major formulations about college drinking have strongly influenced campus alcohol prevention programs, but both rest on shaky ground. The good news is that college binge drinking, although a concern, may not be as prevalent as reported by the CAS. The bad news is that the effectiveness and appropriateness of social norms programs for reducing and treating alcohol abuse and dependency is not yet firmly established. Health educators need to go beyond the narrow focus on binge drinking of the past decade as the problem and social norms programs as the solution. They should not overlook other alcohol-related problems and other strategies for solving them. The following are some other directions college alcohol prevention programs might do well to consider: (1) Shift attention to early detection of problem drinkers from the focus on light and social drinkers; (2) Devise programs for high-risk drinkers to motivate change; (3) Develop peer counseling or discussion groups for the large number of students who themselves have no drinking problems but who suffer or risk physical and psychological harm from excessive drinking of fellow students; (4) Direct more attention to managing environmental factors affecting alcohol abuse instead of focusing on drinking behavior at the individual level; and (5) Develop greater community-campus cooperation and coordination whereby comparable guidelines for acceptable drinking are established and enforced.

ERIC

28

2007

EJ770101