News: Reducing Underage Social Access to Alcohol

Alcohol and places to consume in high-risk manners are readily available to many Maine college students, even those under the legal drinking age. Private house/apartment parties and fraternity/sorority parties are the locations where 2,569 Maine college students from 8 campuses most commonly reported binge drinking (57% and 21% respectively). High-risk drinkers are disproportionately represented at these parties – 83% of students who reported drinking at a fraternity/sorority and 64% of those who reported drinking at a private party were recent binge drinkers (compared to only 52% of the overall sample). Student focus groups provided some rationale for this by saying the vast majority of these parties: a) are often hosted by students who have patterns of higher-risk alcohol use b) typically lack risk-reduction strategies to limit underage and/or high-risk alcohol consumption, and c) usually lack sober individuals to prevent and intervene early with situations that may arise. Collectively these factors result in an environment that facilitates, if not promotes, high-risk drinking with few safe guards.

In response to these finding, The “Promoting Alcohol Responsibility Through You” program was developed by Maine’s Higher Education Alcohol Prevention Partnership. This program could be utilized with a wide range of students or groups, including:

• Athletes
• Greeks
• Students who will be moving off campus
• Groups of students (i.e. those participating in a club or students who live together) who law enforcement or campus officials identify as hosting parties where illegal and/or high-risk consumption occurs
• Sub-populations of students your institution feels are at risk for hosting and/or attending parties where illegal and/or high-risk consumption occurs

This educational intervention incorporates some of the “best-practices” in the field of college drinking prevention. NIAAA’s College Drinking Task force reviewed an accumulation of sound research and knowledge in the field, and categorized the strategies with evidence of effectiveness into three tiers: those that have demonstrated effectiveness with college populations (labeled by report as Tier 1), those that have demonstrated effectiveness with general populations and could be applied to college populations (Tier 2), those that have demonstrated promise but require more research (Tier 3).

This educational intervention incorporates the following Tier 1 and Tier 2 strategies:

• Combining cognitive-behavioral skills with norms clarification and motivational enhancement
• Challenging alcohol expectancies
• Responsible beverage service policies and practices in social settings.

These strategies are complemented by aspects of the project which aim to increase students’ knowledge and awareness of information about alcohol use and relevant laws and campus policies.

GOALS AND OUTCOMES

Goals

• Reduce high-risk drinking among college students
• Reduce students’ experiencing negative personal consequences related to high-risk alcohol use
• Reduce students’ experiencing negative personal consequences related to facilitating high-risk drinking (i.e. furnishing or hosting)