Alcohol Abuse Intervention Strategies For College Students

As many teenagers enter college, they begin to experiment with many things. Although not all students participate in underage drinking, it is evident that a vast majority do. Drinking is not the problem. The main problem occurs when students resort to binge drinking. In the

Binge drinking and consumption of alcohol by minors has long been a problem on college campuses. According to the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 59.4% of college students between the ages of 18-22 consumed alcohol within the past month (Prevalence. The same survey found that 39% of students in the same age group reported binge drinking (five or more drinks in a short period of time) within the past month. Given these numbers, institutions have created many programs to both deter drinking and encourage safer drinking. This literature review will analyse and discuss current literature regarding prevention programs, professional standards, and statistics about college age drinkers.

Unhealthy and irresponsible drinking taking place by college students is causing further issues in their lives. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the use of alcohol in a campus setting is a ‘ritual’ that the students consider an initiation to the start of their college careers. (par. 2). College drinking leads to other health and social problems including deaths, suicides, academic issues, drug use. Studies by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (2015) show that each year, “more than 600,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking, 95% of all violent crime on college campuses involves the use of alcohol by the assailant, victim or both, and 90% of acquaintance rape and sexual assault on college campuses involves the use of alcohol by the assailant, victim or both. (Par. 16). College students, especially the ones consuming alcohol, are the main stakeholders in this situation. Whether they are participating in the use of alcohol or not, it still affects them one way or another. Friends and family members are affected because if something happens to their loved one using alcohol they will be directly affected. Possible outcomes of careless drinking include car

Many students in college throughout the country participate in drinking for many different reasons. People drink for sports events, social purposes, or simply for a party. Binge drinking is an important issue that requires more attention from students, parents, and the media. Drinking can be acceptable at the correct age and if it is not abused. Many people binge drink for a number of reasons. Alcohol can be often viewed as “liquid confidence”. People tend to partake in the activity to lower social anxiety unfortunately not realizing the physical and emotional effects that may come along. There are many different alternatives that can be taken in place of or to help the use of consuming alcohol. Drinking alcohol can be illegal if underage and taken to a further extent that shouldn’t be reached. There have been many instances where people have been extremely injured or even died due to the use of binge drinking and it needs to be taken more seriously let alone controlled.

College DrinkingHarmful and underage college drinking are signifcant public health problems, and they exact an enormous toll on the intellectual and social lives of students on campuses across the United States. Drinking at college has become a ritual that students often see as an integral part of their higher education experience. Many students come to college with established drinking habits, and the college environment can exacerbate the problem. According to a national survey, almost 60 percent of college students ages 18–22 drank alcohol in the past month,1 and almost 2 out of 3 of them engaged in binge drinking during that same timeframe.2Consequences of Harmful and Underage College DrinkingDrinking affects college students, their families, and college communities at large. Researchers estimate that each year:DeathAbout 1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor-vehicle crashes.3Assault About 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking.4Sexual AssaultAbout 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.4What is “binge drinking?” Many college alcohol problems are related to binge drinking. Binge drinking is a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08 g/dL. This typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men—in about 2

Alcohol abuse is a serious health problem when it comes to college students. "The average amount of binge drinkers on college campuses is 50% of men and 39% of women" (<a href="http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/">http://www.oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers/</a>). There are various reasons why students drink and serious short and long term effects on the body and mind. Alcoholism is a serious problem for college students and there are many actions being taken to try to lessen the problem among colleges throughout the country.

​Did you know 82-92% of college students consume alcohol? (Taylor) Did you drink while in college? Do you agree with alcohol on college campuses or do you disagree? Why? Restricting alcohol consumption on campuses sometimes is used to prevent alcohol abuse and alcohol-related problems. Dry campus policies, however, remain misunderstood. According to Dexter M. Taylor, “Drinking and alcohol-related problems found on dry campuses were similar to national trends on wet college campuses” (Taylor). Alcohol related problems that occur on college campuses include injuries, unprotected sex, date rape, poor academics, and health issues. If alcohol was aloud on college campuses how could this help improve these statistics? Demographic and Academic Trends in Drinking Patterns and Alcohol-Related problems on dry College Campuses an experiment of two western universities who surveyed students ages 18 and older. Due to this experiment “dry campuses were similar to national trends on wet college campuses” (Taylor). According to Frances W. Oblander, “Alcohol abuse has become a major concern on campuses. With this concern, a variety of alcohol education activities ranging from awareness days to full-blown peer counseling and education centers has emerged” (Oblander). It’s time for colleges to start educating their students about alcohol and how alcohol affects the human body. Alcohol should be allowed on college campuses. College is about finding who

Throughout the years, drinking alcohol in excessive amounts has become somewhat synonymous with the college experience. It has become an expected occurrence for college-aged students to drink and party regularly, and overtime has transformed into an accepted social norm of college life. Extreme drinking has been a consistent social problem that has substantially grown on college campuses all around the United States for the past few decades. In fact, binge drinking is consistently voted as the most serious problem on campuses by collegiate presidents (College Binge Drinking Facts). Thus, most campuses have recognized binge drinking as a serious problem, yet this epidemic continues on, and many seem to

This includes cutting across the spectrum from safer use to managed use to abstinence (Marlatt & Witkiewitz, 2010, p. 593). Education about the effects of alcohol on the brain and behavior, skills training and risk awareness is a part of harm reduction (Marlatt & Witkiewitz, 2010). Expectancy information, suggestions for less risky drinking habits and brainstorming alternatives to heavy drinking were also identified as a part of harm reduction (Marlatt & Witkiewitz, 2010). Consequently, a key concentration in my work with Marc was reducing harm instead of

While the combined did significantly lower alcohol-related problems initially, there was a much quicker rebound with the combined intervention than the BMI only. The main limitations of the study was the lack of ethnic diversity and non compliant subjects. The authors of this article suggested there is a need to continue to research new and refined interventions at an individual level and how to reach a greater proportion of college students. This study relates to the group topic to show that behavior modification can be successful when it comes to binge drinking on college campuses, by helping to reduce alcohol-related

The perennial problem of binge drinking, especially among college students, is an important issue that must be solved as soon as possible.

(Through the years, various programs have been created, to reduce U.S college alcohol abuse. One such program has been created at The University of Rhode Island.) The University of Rhode Island used to be a center for binge drinking, alcohol-related injuries, and even alcohol related deaths. That all changed when the new URI President Emeritus Dr. Robert Carothers, stepped in with a successful strategy called Security On Campus. Dr. Robert Carothers said, “One of the first, and most challenging, steps was keeping alcohol from being served at any event on campus”. They would also end up targeting fraternity’s/ sorority’s and keeping a tight lease on them. Another program they offered to the freshman was free education on the effects of drug

These colleges, Frostburg State University and Hamilton College, used strategies that the New York Times article mentioned had been only marginally successful in the past. For example, FSU used a social marketing campaign attempting to inform students that their peers did not drink as much as they perceived, and attempting to de-glamorize drinking. FSU police officers display a certain nonchalance towards drinking and lenience towards underage drinking in hopes that allowing students to be more open about drinking will prevent binge drinking. Although this is a nice sentiment, the NYT article expressed doubt that this method is at all effective. This illustrates a key point made in the NYT article: although many methods have been shown not to work or not to work particularly well, colleges continue to

Also, a drinking license would be issued to people who pass the final exam at the end of the 40-hour course (Lenek 1958). A new effort is also being made by the group called Amethyst Initiative, which was introduced by Choose Responsibility. One hundred and thirty five chancellors and college presidents have signed the Initiative to support a new way to prepare the youth for drinking. It’s no surprise that college students drink, college chancellors are not oblivious and want to prepare their students. The American Journal on Public Health stated,  “College students are more likely to engage in heavy drinking than their peers who do not attend college. Two in five students nationally engaged in binge drinking on at least one occasion in the past two weeks”(Nelson 987). It’s a big problem in the United States.

That when you go off to college it's time to not only get a degree, but also a time to drink and socialize at parties. In the end, alcohol is glamorized and often enough abused. Ultimately alcohol becomes so much of a social norm that students do not realize how and when alcohol is abusive. Therefore the problem is how to inform students in a socially acceptable manner of how and when alcohol becomes abusive to their own well being. This reports seeks to explore all aspects of alcohol abuse related to college students through definitions and statistical problems of alcohol abuse in hopes of ultimately providing solutions to increasing the wellness at Georgia Southern University.