Literature Review #4: College Student Alcohol Use and Abuse

Champion, Denisha A., PhD, Todd F. Lewis, PhD, and Jane E. Myers, PhD. "College Student Alcohol Use and Abuse: Social Norms, Health Beliefs, and Selected Socio-Demographic Variables as Explanatory Factors."Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education (2015): 57-72. 1 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

This paper discusses why, despite increased focus on college alcohol consumption by government agencies and universities, college drinking remains at a consistent level across two decades. The paper goes on to discuss the dangerous activities students engage in, such as binge drinking, and how the widely used "Social Norms Theory" affects college drinking. For example, the theory outlines that the norms tied to those with whom a person is close, such as a best friend, tend to have the strongest effects. Social norms theory has been studied in college drinking contexts before. For example, "the more alcohol students perceive (often inaccurately) others to drink, the more they drink themselves" (Berkowitz, 2004).

Denisha Champion is a PhD who works as a the Assistant Director of Programming and Prevention for Wake Forrest University. Todd F. Lewis has a PhD in Counselling Education and Supervision and has a research interest in substance abuse and risk-taking behavior. 

Key Terms:

HBM- health belief model. "a theory developed by social psychologists to understand the under-utilization of preventative screenings and approaches that could serve to improve the health of populations" (60)

Value-Expectancy Theory- "deal with the influence of individual values and expectations on behavior and/or the development of these values and expectations” (Hays, 1985, p.379)

AUDIT- Alcohol Use Disorders Test. "...a 10-item assessment developed by several researchers for the World Health Organization (WHO). The purpose of the AUDIT is listed as “a screening procedure to identify persons whose alcohol consumption has become hazardous or harmful to their health” (Plake & 64 COLLEGE STUDENT ALCOHOL USE AND ABUSE Impara, 2001, p.51) " (63-64)

"However, mistrust of information in campaigns, including students finding media messages as deceptive tactics to curb their fun college experience, as well as being intentionally misleading have all been barriers to successful outcomes" (60)

"The consequences of drinking behavior are varied, serious, damaging, and far-reaching. They encompass areas such as mental and emotional well-being, academic performance, relationships between the local community and campus, negative physiological effects, vandalism, property damage, and sexual assault" (58)

"In the second hypothesis we predicted that social norms and health beliefs variables would account for a larger portion of the variance in drinking behavior among students than socio-demographic variables...this was indeed found to be the case...this finding indicates that the pull students feel to drink based on how their peers are drinking, coupled with personal health beliefs about susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers related to alcohol consumption far outweigh the demographic attributes often associated with drinking behavior." (68)

This scientific study is valuable to my research paper because my paper will discuss in depth the impact of social norms on college drinking culture. This paper proves that social norms theory could possibly be used to describe why drinking is so disproportionately prevalent in college atmospheres.

Literature Review #3: How College Students Conceptualize and Practice Responsible Drinking

Barry, Adam, and Patricia Goodson. "How College Students Conceptualize and Practice Responsible Drinking." Journal of American College Health VACH J. of Am. Coll. Hlth. 59.4 (2011): 304-12. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

This scientific study is about what college students believe about drinking responsibly. The study surveyed over 700 students for the quantitative data and 13 participants for the qualitative data. The study found that students generally associated 7 different themes with responsible alcohol consumption, including refraining from drinking and driving, moderating how often one drinks, and monitoring how much alcohol one consumes.

Adam E. Barry PhD is a professor at Texas A&M who has been published several times in the Journal of American College Health, many times for articles based on a study of alcohol's effects. 

Key Terms:

Standard Drink- 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits

CHORDS- CHaracteristic Of Responsible Drinking Survey. A behavioral beliefs scale used to assign a value to the student responses in the survey. The scale ranged from 1-5, 1 meaning not important to do and 5 being something that one must always do when drinking.

BAC- Blood Alcohol Content

"...males were found to believe that these responsible drinking behaviors should occur with less frequency, when compared to their female counterparts" (309)

"We argue that the construct of responsible drinking requires its own, exclusive focus, due to its prevalence in alcohol advertising and public health research." (311)

"participants offered numerous different interpretations of what constituted one’s alcohol-related limit. For instance, notions of an alcohol limit ranged from staying in control of one’s self to remaining coherent. Some participants felt knowing one’s limit encompassed preventing illness/sickness due to consuming alcohol: “Throwing up is too much, but buzzing is alright.”" (307)

The value that I see in this study is that it provides a first-hand look into the minds of college drinkers. In order for one to grasp the concept of the culture of college drinking, one must peek into the minds of the students who create and perpetuate the culture.

Research Blog #6: Visual

This table is part of a study of the consequences of binge drinking. While the statistics themselves aren't that interesting, what the table suggests is. This table shows that a large portion of students find that they are experiencing secondhand effects of college binge drinking. In turn, this shows that there is a culture of being disrespectful, destructive, and violent associated with drinking among college students. This can be useful in my presentation because it could help connect the dangers of drinking with any experiences that my classmates may have been a victim of.

Research Blog #5: Bibliography

Bibliography

Barry, Adam, and Patricia Goodson. "How College Students Conceptualize and Practice Responsible Drinking." Taylor & Francis Online. Journal of American College Health, 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07448481.2010.502196>.

Gladwell, Malcolm. "Drinking Games." Gladwell.com. 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

<http://gladwell.com/drinking-games/>.

Irima, C. "Increased Impulsivity in Rats as a Result of Repeated Cycles of Alcohol Intoxication and Abstinence." Readcube.com. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

<http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1111%2Fadb.12119?r3_referer=wol&tracking_action=preview_click&show_checkout=1&purchase_referrer=onlinelibrary.wiley.com&purchase_site_license=LICENSE_EXPIRED>

Lewis, Todd, and Jane Myers. "College Student Alcohol Use and Abuse: Social Norms, Health Beliefs, and Selected Socio-demographic Variables as Explanatory Factors." NC Docks. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG ), 1 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. <https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Champion_uncg_0154D_11060.pdf>.

Wagenaar, Alexander. "Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws: Review and Analyses of the Literature from 1960 to 2000." Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 2002. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. <http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/supportingresearch/journal/wagenaar.aspx>.

Literature Review #2: Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws

Wagenaar, Alexander. "Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws: Review and Analyses of the Literature from 1960 to 2000." Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 2002. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. <http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/supportingresearch/journal/wagenaar.aspx>.

This article is a study published by the Journal of Studies on Alcohol. This is an extensive analysis of laws that pertain to the minimum legal drinking age. The MLDA was established in 1984 and by 1988, all states complied with the 21 year old drinking age law. Wagenaar goes on to show with quantitative data that the switch to a minimum age of 21 was the most effective effort to date in reducing teenage underage drinking. In addition, the end of the publication also lists a number of common complaints about the MLDA 21, to which Wagenaar responds with facts pulled from the studies and from everyday life.

Alexander Wagenaar is a professor of Health Outcomes and Policy at the University of Florida College of Medicine (Wikipedia). His work on the effects of alcohol and alcohol laws have been referenced in major publications and media outlets like CNN, USA Today, and NBC News.

MLDA- Minimum legal drinking age. This law was created in 1984 and mandated a minimum age of 21 for alcohol consumption

Inverse Relationship- An inverse relationship exists between the MLDA and the rate of alcohol consumption among teenagers. This means that as one goes up, the other goes down. As the MLDA is raised to 21, teenage drinking drops.

"Compared with a wide range of other programs and efforts to reduce drinking among teenagers, increasing the legal age for purchase and consumption of alcohol to 21 appears to have been the most successful effort to date"

"Of the 78 analyses, 27 (35%) found a statistically significant inverse relationship between the legal drinking age and alcohol consumption; that is, as the legal age was lowered, drinking increased, and as the legal age was raised, drinking decreased. An additional 8 analyses that found an inverse relationship did not report significance levels. Of the 78 analyses, only 5 found a positive relationship between the legal drinking age and consumption. In short, 45% of all analyses found that a higher legal drinking age is associated with reduced alcohol consumption."

"Issue. 'If teens can't get alcohol, they'll just switch to other, perhaps even more dangerous, drugs.'

Response. Research shows that the opposite is true; teens who drink and/or smoke are more likely also to use other drugs (Fell, 1985; Kandel et al., 1992). If we can keep youth from using alcohol and tobacco, we can actually reduce the chance that they will try other illegal drugs. Moreover, when the drinking age was raised to 21, and teen drinking declined, there was no evidence of a compensatory increase in other drug use (O'Malley and Wagenaar, 1991)."

This article is useful to me because it finally puts to rest, using analysis of quantitative data, the issue of the minimum legal drinking age of 21. I'm going to reference this when writing about the government's successful and unsuccessful attempts at reducing teenage drinking.

• "Alexander Wagenaar." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 July 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Literature Review #1: Drinking Games

Gladwell, Malcolm. "Drinking Games." Gladwell.com. 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. <http://gladwell.com/drinking-games/>.

This article written by Malcolm Gladwell takes the reader through an experience that Yale University anthropology graduate Dwight Heath had in Bolivia while interacting with the native Camba people. Heath noticed the stark contrast in the way that the Camba drink alcohol compared to people in European or American countries. There, alcohol is used as a part of a larger tradition; rather than providing an escape from everyday life, alcohol is used to become closer as a society and strengthens the ties between the community. The author then uses Heath's findings to come to the conclusion that alcohol can be a tool for good when consumed as part of a larger structure or tradition, rather than for enjoyment or amusement.

Malcolm Gladwell is a Canadian journalist and author of five best selling books, all having to do with "unexpected implications of research in the social sciences" (Wikipedia). Gladwell's work has also been recognized by his appointment to the Order of Canada.

Myopia Theory- Those who drink alcohol become increasingly more tuned into the environment, making him "at the mercy" of whatever is in front of the drinker due to lowered inhibitions.

Camba Rum- a 180-proof alcohol that the Camba people drink regularly. 180-proof is equal to 90% alcohol by volume, which is very close to pure grain alcohol. Despite the Camba people partaking in this highly alcoholic drink, they exhibit no social pathology, arguments, disputes, or sexual aggression.

"...'There was no social pathology—none. No arguments, no disputes, no sexual aggression, no verbal aggression. There was pleasant conversation or silence.' On the Brown University campus, a few blocks away, beer—which is to Camba rum approximately what a peashooter is to a bazooka—was known to reduce the student population to a raging hormonal frenzy on Friday nights."

"Those weekly drinking parties were not chaotic revels; they were the heart of Camba community life. They had a function, and the elaborate rituals—one bottle at a time, the toasting, the sitting in a circle—served to give the Camba’s drinking a clear structure."

"When confronted with the rowdy youth in the bar, we are happy to raise his drinking age, to tax his beer, to punish him if he drives under the influence, and to push him into treatment if his habit becomes an addiction. But we are reluctant to provide him with a positive and constructive example of how to drink. The consequences of that failure are considerable, because, in the end, culture is a more powerful tool in dealing with drinking than medicine, economics, or the law."

This article is incredibly useful for me in making my argument that the college drinking problem is a cultural one, not a legal one. 

• "Malcolm Gladwell." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 09 November 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015..

Research Blog #4: Research Proposal

Working Title: College Alcohol Abuse

Topic

        A high rate of alcohol abuse among college students is not a new problem. There exist factions that argue for and against policy such as the national drinking age of 21. Some people believe that keeping, or even raising the drinking age may help keep alcohol out of the hands of college students and minors. Other groups argue that lower drinking ages such as those found in European nations will rid alcohol of the mystique that surrounds it, and that teaching safe alcohol consumption at younger ages will result in more responsible drinkers in the future. In my research proposal, I propose to consider the question of whether laws and policy have a noticeable effect on alcohol consumption in college or if the campus and organizational culture surrounding the students are the larger factors in alcohol abuse.

Research Question (work in progress)

        Is alcohol abuse among college students a policy problem or a culture problem? In other words, is college alcohol abuse a problem that can be helped by changing alcohol laws, or can it only be done by changing the culture of alcohol consumption on college campuses? How can college alcohol consumption be transformed from its current culture of overconsumption to fit within sustainable social norms?

Theory

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States, contributing to over 88,000 deaths per year. On college campuses, alcohol abuse contributes to 1,825 deaths per year, 690,000 assaults, 97,000 cases of alcohol related sexual assault, and 599,000 alcohol related injuries.

An academic article written by Alexander Wagenaar and Traci Toomey goes in depth in researching the many factors related to alcohol abuse among teenagers and the effects of the minimum drinking age laws. Their research provides cited sources to studies that all suggest that the 21 year old minimum drinking age is the “most successful effort to date” in reducing drinking among teenagers. The journal also provides several counterpoints to arguments made in favor of abolishing the 21 year old minimum. One of these points is that alcohol is considered a “forbidden fruit” that teenagers are more likely to consume before the legal age. The authors’ research shows otherwise, claiming that early legal access to alcohol is associated with higher rates of consumption as an adult.

Research Plans

        One of the leading causes of alcohol abuse/binge drinking in college atmospheres are the existence of fraternities on campus. As a former fraternity member, I plan on interviewing some of my former fraternity brothers along with members of other Rutgers fraternities on campus to get an understanding of why there is an importance placed on alcohol consumption in fraternities. I’d also like to know what steps these organizations take to both stay within the boundaries of the law and promote safe drinking habits. I would like to get input from several perspectives, including members of the E-Board as well as new members and “pledges”.  I’d also like to ask how the minimum drinking age has had an effect on their ability and/or their willingness to consume alcoholic products.

        Another factor that I am planning on researching is the effect that college privatization may indirectly have on college alcohol abuse. Sperber’s “Beer and Circus” shows that alcohol acts as social lubricant in the “party pathway”, which is a way through college that is directly supported by privatized colleges. As privatization creates higher costs for students, only those that can afford to “pay for the party” are able to partake in the party culture around campuses, a culture which is nearly always paired with alcohol consumption. Because alcohol is used as a social lubricant in many of these privatized schools, it actually encourages consumption out of fear of being “left out”.

Bibliography

"College Drinking." College Drinking. NIAA. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/special-populations-co-occurring-disorders/college-drinking>.

Wagenaar, Alexander, and Traci Toomey. "Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws: Review and Analyses of the Literature from 1960 to 2000."Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws. 3 Sept. 2005. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/supportingresearch/journal/wagenaar.aspx>.