College Drinking: Content Analysis of 30 Years of Research

Abstract

Researchers applied a content analysis method to evaluate the 119 articles about college drinking that appeared in Journal of College Student Development and NASPA Journal during the past 30 years. The data revealed that a greater proportion of articles on college drinking appeared in the last decade (5.82%) than in the first decade (1.60%). Two thirds of the studies did not use a theoretical framework to guide the research. Of the 94 quantitative studies, only 10% were experimental, 60% used convenience samples, and 61% used locally developed survey instruments for a single institution. Seven recommendations about college drinking are identified for student affairs practitioners and scholars.

Positive peer pressure: Priming member prototypicality can decrease undergraduate drinking

“…Experimental manipulations of injunctive and descriptive norms about undergraduate drinking behavior are rare (Borsari & Carey, ; Broughton & Molasso, ; Cho, ), but experimental manipulations of norm‐based messages about recycling (Cialdini, ), towel re‐use (Schultz, Khazian, & Zaleski, ) and political behavior (Smith & Louis, ) suggest that injunctive norm information can influence behavior and behavioral intentions more strongly in comparison to descriptive norm information. However, when injunctive norm information about undergraduate binge drinking was paired with inconsistent descriptive norm information, the effectiveness of the injunctive norm was undermined by descriptive norm information, which indicated that most undergraduates still engaged in binge drinking (Smith et al., ).…”

“…Social norms can include "rules" about what group members do (descriptive norms) and "ideals" about what group members ought to do (injunctive norms; Borsari & Carey, 2003;Cialdini, 2003). However, it is unclear whether descriptive or injunctive norm-based messages about peer drinking behavior are more effective (see Borsari & Carey, 2003;Broughton & Molasso, 2006;Cho, 2006 for reviews). On the one hand, undergraduates who learned that their peers drank much less alcohol in comparison to their own estimates reported drinking significantly less alcohol 3 and 6 months later (Neighbors, Lewis, Bergstrom, & Larimer, 2006).…”

“…Alcohol use is related to accidents and injuries, unsafe or unwanted sexual experiences, academic failure, and the aggravation of other mental health problems (Capone et al, 2007;Larimer et al 2004). To address this problem, many university campuses adopt educational campaigns designed to target campus drinking norms (the "social norm" approach; Broughton & Molasso, 2006;Capone et al, 2007;Cho, 2006). Because most students overestimate the quantity and frequency that their peers drink alcohol, learning that their peers actually drink less alcohol should, in turn, lead them to drink less alcohol (Broughton & Molasso, 2006;Capone et al, 2007;Cho, 2006;Prentice & Miller, 1993).…”

“…To address this problem, many university campuses adopt educational campaigns designed to target campus drinking norms (the "social norm" approach; Broughton & Molasso, 2006;Capone et al, 2007;Cho, 2006). Because most students overestimate the quantity and frequency that their peers drink alcohol, learning that their peers actually drink less alcohol should, in turn, lead them to drink less alcohol (Broughton & Molasso, 2006;Capone et al, 2007;Cho, 2006;Prentice & Miller, 1993). But even though cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys consistently document students' overestimation of actual peer drinking, social norm interventions are not always effective (Broughton & Molasso, 2006;Prentice, 2008).…”

Campus Involvement, Perceived Campus Connection, and Alcohol Use in College Athletes

“…Presley et al (2002) recommend that theoretical frameworks be used that recognize both the individual and the institution when examining alcohol use on college campuses. A recent review of 119 articles about college drinking in both the Journal of College Student Development and NASPA Journal found that 65.6% of these articles did not have a theoretical framework to guide the study (Broughton & Molasso, 2006).…”