[Prevention] college drinking

[Rogers, Anne]

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services=20

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News=20

Embargoed for Release: Monday, June 15, 2009, 12:15 a.m. EDT

 

 

AS COLLEGE DRINKING PROBLEMS RISE, NEW STUDIES IDENTIFY EFFECTIVE
PREVENTION STRATEGIES

 

Alcohol-related deaths among U.S. college students rose from 1,440
deaths in 1998 to 1,825 in 2005, along with increases in heavy drinking
and drunk driving, according to an article in the July supplement of the
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

 

The special issue describes the results of a broad array of
research-based programs to reduce and prevent alcohol-related problems
at campuses across the country.  These studies resulted from the Rapid
Response to College Drinking Problems Initiative, a grant program
supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

 

"This supplement is a valuable resource that underscores the growing
number of research-driven strategies that college administrators and
health officials can put in place to address serious student drinking
problems," says Acting NIAAA Director Kenneth Warren, Ph.D.

 

Reviewing the magnitude of the college alcohol problem, Ralph W.
Hingson, Sc.D, M.P.H., director of NIAAA's Division of Epidemiology and
Prevention Research, and colleagues analyzed data from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and other government sources. They found
that serious problems persist, as indicated by the increase in
drinking-related accidental deaths among 18- to 24-year-old students,
which resulted mainly from traffic-related incidents. In addition, the
researchers found the proportion of students who reported recent heavy
episodic drinking -- sometimes called binge drinking, defined as five or
more alcoholic drinks on any occasion in the past 30 days -- rose from
roughly 42 percent to 45 percent, and the proportion who admitted to
drinking and driving in the past year increased from 26.5 percent to 29
percent.

 

"These are tragically and unacceptably high figures that indicate an
urgent need for colleges and surrounding communities to implement
evidence-based prevention and counseling programs," says Dr. Hingson.
The results of NIAAA's rapid response grants, he says, demonstrate the
wide range of individual, group, and community-level approaches that can
influence student behavior and challenge the culture of college
drinking.=20

 

Through the initiative, NIAAA scientists worked with 15 colleges facing
alcohol-related crises, pairing them with five multidisciplinary teams
of prevention and intervention experts. The collaboration yielded a mix
of programs that showed different benefits. Examples from their findings
include the following:=20

 

-- James F. Schaus, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Central
Florida found that brief motivational interviews proved effective for
high risk drinkers seen in a busy college health clinic. Compared to a
control group, students who participated in two sessions reported
consuming less alcohol six months later and had fewer drinking-related
problems nine months later.=20

 

-- Hortensia Amaro, Ph.D., and colleagues at Northeastern University in
Boston developed a one-on-one counseling program for students with
alcohol and drug policy violations.  Six months later, students who
received the intervention were drinking less than counterparts who had
not been through the program.=20

 

-- Joseph A. LaBrie and colleagues at Loyola Marymount University in Los
Angeles evaluated the long-term effectiveness of a
motivational-enhancement group intervention for first-year college
women. Participants consumed significantly less alcohol across 10 weeks
of follow-up, but not at six-month follow-up, suggesting the need for
booster sessions during the first year of college.=20

 

-- Two separate studies developed programs in which colleges worked
closely with their surrounding communities, using measures such as
increased police patrols in problem neighborhoods and raising student
awareness of their responsibilities as community residents. The studies
found reductions in heavy drinking and a decrease in the number of
off-campus incidents involving students. =20

One study was led by Mark D. Wood, Ph.D., of the University of Rhode
Island, and the other by Robert F. Saltz, Ph.D., of the Pacific
Institute for Research and Evaluation, working with two universities in
Washington state. =20

 

-- Another study found that colleges have made online alcohol-policy
information more available and accessible to students, parents, and
other interested parties.  This shift may reflect a greater engagement
of colleges and universities in the issue of drinking on campus in
general, according to lead author Vivian B. Faden, Ph.D., acting
director of NIAAA's Office of Science Policy and Communications.=20

 

Dr. Warren notes that the rapid response grants grew out of the
recommendations from the 2002 report of the NIAAA-sponsored Task Force
on College Drinking. He adds that NIAAA remains committed to working
with academic leaders and researchers to bridge the gap from research to
practice in developing evidence-based college alcohol prevention and
treatment programs.=20

 

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the
National Institutes of Health, is the primary U.S. agency for conducting
and supporting research on the causes, consequences, prevention, and
treatment of alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and alcohol problems, and
disseminates research findings to general, professional, and academic
audiences. Additional alcohol research information and publications are
available at <www.niaaa.nih.gov>.

 

This NIH News Release is available online at:

<http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2009/niaaa-15.htm>.