Student Groups and Alcohol Consumption
Many students first have had their first experience with alcohol consumption by the time they enter their first year in college. Alcohol is socially accepted in the college community and is very assessable to the common student which makes alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse such a problem in colleges throughout the country. In fact, a recent study conducted by Knight et al. (2002) measured 23,751 undergraduate students aged 18-24 from 119 four-year colleges around the country. The study states that only 15.6% of college students abstained from alcohol while 24.6% engaged in occasional heavy episodic drinking. The study went on to say that 19.5% of the college students surveyed engaged in frequent heavy episodic drinking, which is defined as three or more occasions of heavy episodic drinking in the past two weeks. It is evident that college students prefer to drink during social events. An increased attendance to social events could make a student more likely to consume a greater amount of alcohol more frequently.
Student groups on campus, such as Greeks or athletic teams, are often times associated with large social gatherings during the weekend. Fraternities and sororities are known for hosting themed parties and other events often. In most of these events, alcohol is present. Unfortunately, an increased attendance to parties can lead to an excessive amount of alcohol consumption and also lead to binge drinking. According to the 1995 National College Health Risk Behavior Survey (NCHRBS) as cited by DeSimone (2007) 69% of fraternities, sororities, and other student group affiliates reported binge drinking, which is defined as five or more alcoholic beverages within a few hours, while 42% of non-student group members reported binge drinking. Student group members are more likely to consume alcohol because of the environment in which they are subjected to more often than those who do not belong to a student group. Student group affiliates are also exposed to a greater amount of peer pressure from fellow student group members who would cause an increase in alcohol consumption. It could be noted that a student group member who rarely drinks could often be pressured into drinking because 69% of his/her student group are heavy alcohol consumers according to DeSimone (2007).
Another self reported survey conducted by Reis and Trockel (2003) examined fraternity and sorority chapters, and measured members’ alcohol expectancies as well as any possible increase in consumption. (The alcohol expectancies were measured with items used to assess the degree to which people believe that alcohol has positive effects.) Reis and Trockel (2003) also noted that alcohol consumption was positively associated with Greek life and was glorified among students. Fraternity and sorority members had seen alcohol as a socially acceptable part of Greek life and believed that their college and Greek experience would be enhanced through the use of alcohol. Reis and Trockel (2003) also used their available information to state the different aspirations of consuming alcohol between the two genders. They concurred that males used alcohol for enhancement of social interactions while females used alcohol for stress reduction. Unfortunately, the use of alcohol for mood altercation is a sure sign of alcoholism. Reis and Trockel’s (2003) survey sheds some light to the fact that alcohol abuse for some people can start in college through the use of social drinking, but can easily gain momentum and become a huge problem later on in life.
Binge drinking among college students is a much bigger problem than most would expect because of all the other factors that go along with drinking such as disorderly behavior, drunken driving, and forced sexual activity. Aside from an excessive amount of harmful outcomes, binge drinking and alcoholism will hinder a student’s chances of maximizing academic potential. DeSimone (2007) connected other harmful habits and behaviors that fraternity and sorority members are more likely to participate in versus a college student not affiliated with any student group or organization. DeSimone (2007) stated that fraternity, sorority, and other student group members are more likely to smoke cigarettes, use marijuana and other controlled substances, and are even less likely to wear a seatbelt when driving in a vehicle. The ability to abstain from alcohol consumption is something that is very difficult for some people, especially for those in college.
Knight, J. R., Wechsler, H, Kuo, M, Seibring, M, Weitzman, E.R., & Schuckit, M.A. (2002).
Alcohol abuse and dependence among U.S. college students. Department of Pediatrics,
Harvard Medical School & Department of Medicine: Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 263-
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Economics.26, 950-967.
Reis, J., & Trockel, M (2003). An empirical analysis of fraternity and sorority individual-
Environmental interactions with alcohol. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 33, 2536-
2552.
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