Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jul-Aug;32(4):420-30.
doi: 10.5555/ajhb.2008.32.4.420.

Social context of drinking and alcohol problems among college students

Kenneth H Beck  1 , Amelia M Arria, Kimberly M Caldeira, Kathryn B Vincent, Kevin E O'Grady, Eric D Wish
Affiliations

Social context of drinking and alcohol problems among college students

Kenneth H Beck et al. Am J Health Behav. 2008 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To examine how social contexts of drinking are related to alcohol use disorders, other alcohol-related problems, and depression among college students.

Methods: Logistic regression models controlling for drinking frequency measured the association between social context and problems, among 728 current drinkers.

Results: Drinking for social facilitation was associated with drinking and driving and housing violations. Drinking in the context of motor vehicles was associated with alcohol abuse/ dependence. Drinking in a context of emotional pain was associated with clinical depression.

Conclusions: Alcohol-free programming that fulfills needs for conviviality and addresses early signs of depression might reduce alcohol problems among college students.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Hingson RW, Heeren T, Zakocs RC, et al. Magnitude of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18–24. J Stud Alcohol. 2002;63(2):136–144. - PubMed
    1. White AM, Kraus CL, Swartzwelder H. Many college freshmen drink at levels far beyond the binge threshold. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2006;30(6):1006–1010. - PubMed
    1. Slutske WS. Alcohol use disorders among US college students and their non-college-attending peers. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62(3):321–327. - PubMed
    1. Wechsler H, Lee JE, Kuo M, et al. College binge drinking in the 1990’s: a continuing problem: results of the Harvard School of Public Health 1999 College Alcohol Study. J Am Coll Health. 2000;48:199–210. - PubMed
    1. Hingson R, Heeren T, Winter M, et al. Magnitude of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18–24: changes from 1998 to 2001. Ann Rev Pub Health. 2005;26:259–279. - PubMed

Publication types