The burden of alcohol use: excessive alcohol consumption and related consequences among college students

Abstract

Research shows that multiple factors influence college drinking, from an individual's genetic susceptibility to the positive and negative effects of alcohol, alcohol use during high school, campus norms related to drinking, expectations regarding the benefits and detrimental effects of drinking, penalties for underage drinking, parental attitudes about drinking while at college, whether one is member of a Greek organization or involved in athletics, and conditions within the larger community that determine how accessible and affordable alcohol is. Consequences of college drinking include missed classes and lower grades, injuries, sexual assaults, overdoses, memory blackouts, changes in brain function, lingering cognitive deficits, and death. This article examines recent findings about the causes and consequences of excessive drinking among college students relative to their non-college peers and many of the strategies used to collect and analyze relevant data, as well as the inherent hurdles and limitations of such strategies.

Figure 1

Alcohol: Trends in 30-day prevalence among college students vs. others 1 to 4 years beyond high school (twelfth graders included for comparision). SOURCE: The Monitoring the Future Study, the University of Michigan. NOTE: Others refers to high school graduates 1 to 4 years beyond high school not currently enrolled full time in college.

Figure 2

Binge alcohol use among adults aged 18 to 22, by college enrollment: 2002–2011. Survey years are shown on the horizontal axis, and the percentage using in the past month is shown on the vertical axis. For each college enrollment status (enrolled full time in college and not enrolled full time in college), there is a line showing use over the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Tests of statistical significance at the .05 level were performed between 2011 and each of the previous years listed; significant results are indicated where appropriate. Among adults aged 18 to 22 enrolled full time in college, 44.4 percent were past-month binge alcohol users in 2002, 43.5 percent in 2003, 43.4 percent in 2004, 44.8 percent in 2005, 45.6 percent in 2006, 43.6 percent in 2007, 40.7 percent in 2008, 43.6 percent in 2009, 42.2 percent in 2010, and 39.1 percent in 2011. The differences between the 2011 estimate and the 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010 estimates were statistically significant. Among adults aged 18 to 22 not enrolled full time in college, 38.9 percent were past-month binge alcohol users in 2002, 38.7 percent in 2003, 39.4 percent in 2004, 38.3 percent in 2005, 38.5 percent in 2006, 38.6 percent in 2007, 38.2 percent in 2008, 38.0 percent in 2009, 35.4 percent in 2010, and 35.4 percent in 2011. The differences between the 2011 estimate and the 2002 through 2009 estimates were statistically significant. SOURCE: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results From the 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H–44, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 12–4713. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2012.

Figure 3

Alcohol: Trends in 2-week prevalence of consuming five or more drinks in a row among college students vs. others 1 to 4 years beyond high school (12th graders included for comparision). SOURCE: The Monitoring the Future study, the University of Michigan. NOTE: Others refers to high school graduates 1 to 4 years beyond high school not currently enrolled full time in college.

Figure 4

Drinking habits of college students from Harvard CAS. SOURCE: Johnston, L.D.; O’Malley, P.M.; Bachman, J.G.; and Schulenberg, J.E. Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2011: Volume I: Secondary School Students. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, the University of Michigan.

Figure 5

Percent of 12th-grade male and female students who reported drinking at least once in the prior 2 weeks. SOURCE: Wechsler, H.; Lee, J.E.; Kuo, M., et al. Trends in college binge drinking during a period of increased prevention efforts: Findings from 4 Harvard School of Public health College alcohol study surveys: 1993–2001. Journal of American College Health 50(5):203–217, 2002. PMID: 11990979