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College
Drinking: Consumption and Harm
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UCB Data
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College Drinking
National studies consistently indicate that about 80 percent of college
students drink alcohol. (NIAAA, 2002)
At Cal the level is lower. The following was reported by undergraduates
in Fall '08 (CSS, 2008):
- 72% consumed
alcohol in the past year;
- 60% consumed
alcohol in the past 30 days; and
- 52% of those
under 21 consumed alcohol in the past 30 days.
Binge Drinking
Nationwide among college students and other 18-24 year olds, binge drinking
is increasing. A "binge" is a pattern of drinking alcohol
that brings blood alcohol concentration (BA) to 0.08 gram-percent or
above. For a typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming 5
or more drinks (male), or 4 or more drinks (female), in about 2 hours.
- National studies
indicate that about 40 percent of college students engage in binge
drinking with about 20 percent binging three or more times over the
previous 2 weeks (NIAAA 2002).
- At Cal binge
drinking appears to be declining moderately. The following was reported
by undergraduates in Fall '08 (CSS, 2008):
- 26% of all
students reported binge drinking in the previous two weeks;
- 43% of drinkers
reported binge drinking in the previous two weeks.
College vs.
Non-College Student Drinking
College students are more likely to use alcohol and to drink more heavily
than their non-college peers and surveys show little change in this
difference over the last 20 years. (NIAAA, 9/2005). A recent study which
followed students from early adolescence through their mid 20's (Timberlake
et al, 2007) found that compared with their peers who never attended
college, current college students were less likely to have been binge
drinkers prior to their college years, but more likely to binge drink
once they entered college. This change is often referred to as "The
College Effect" and reflects the immersion of new students into
the developmental and social context of college.
Based on self-report
data collected from all first year students taking the AlcoholEdu pre-college
(July) and post-transition (October) surveys, we saw the following "college
effect" at Cal in Fall '08:
- Number of non-drinkers
decreased from 73% to 67%; compared with a decrease of 62% to 51%
in the national aggregate comparison.
- Number of drinkers
increased from 27% to 33%; compared with an increase from 38% to 49%
in the national aggregate comparison.
- Number of heavy-episodic
(binge) drinkers in the past two weeks increased from 13% to 15%;
compared with an increase from 24% to 32% in the national aggregate
comparison.
Gender, Race,
Geography
All national surveys of college drinking report variation in alcohol
use by gender, race and geographical region. Men drink at higher levels
than women. The difference, however, is not as dramatic as might be
expected. Four of the surveys found 50-60% of college men in the samples
reported heavy drinking episodes, with 34-40% of women reporting heavy
drinking. Trends over time suggest fewer differences between men and
women. There are marked racial differences among student groups (Wechsler,
Fulop, Padilla, Lee & Patrick, 1997). White students reported nearly
three times as much heavy high-risk drinking as black students. Hispanic
students reported approximately 25% less heavy drinking than white students.
Finally, regional variations were found. Alcohol use was less prevalent
in Western colleges than in Northeastern or North Central colleges.
(NIAAA 9/2005)
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