Predicting Drinking Behavior and Alcohol-Related Problems Among Fraternity and Sorority Members: Examining the Role of Descriptive and Injunctive Norms.

Abstract

The authors examined the relation between Greek students' perceptions of alcohol consumption in their pledge classes (descriptive norms) and acceptability of drinking (injunctive norms) and the ability of these normative influences to predict drinking behavior, alcohol-related negative consequences, and symptoms of alcohol dependence concurrently and prospectively over 1 year. Participants were 279 men and 303 women recruited from incoming pledge classes of 12 fraternities and 6 sororities, who completed measures of descriptive and injunctive norms, alcohol use, and consequences. Results revealed that descriptive norms significantly predicted concurrent drinking. After controlling for baseline drinking, injunctive norms significantly predicted drinking 1 year later and predicted alcohol-related consequences and dependency symptoms at baseline and follow-up. The potential to incorporate injunctive norms into preventive interventions is discussed.Excessive use of alcohol is a significant public health threat, with a disproportionate impact on morbidity and mortality of adolescents and young adults in the United States (Grant, 1997;Grant et al., 1994; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1997). Among individuals ages 18 to 24, approximately 11% meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence (Grant, 1997). In addition, excessive use of alcohol is related to substantial harm among this age group, including accidents & injuries (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1997); unsafe or unwanted sexual experiences (Abbey, McAuslan, & Ross, 1998;Larimer, Lydum, Anderson, & Turner, 1999); academic failure (Presley, Meilman, & Cashin, 1996;Wechsler, Dowdall, Maenner, Gledhill-Hoyt, & Lee, 1998); and potential exacerbation of comorbid mental health conditions, such as depression, eating disorders, and anxiety disorders (Dunn, Larimer, & Neighbors, 2002;Geisner et al., 2004). Research indicates that college student populations are at particular risk for heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related harm (Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 1999;Schulenberg & Maggs, 2000;Wechsler, Molnar, Davenport, & Baer, 1999) of Greek letter organizations (fraternities and sororities) at even greater risk (Alva, 1998;Borsari & Carey, 1999;Cashin, Presley, & Meilman, 1998;Wechsler, Kuh, & Davenport, 1996). It is interesting that the correlation between drinking quantity and frequency and alcohol-related negative consequences in this population rarely exceeds .6, suggesting that substantial variance in the experience of alcohol problems on college campuses cannot be explained by drinking behavior alone (Larimer et al., 2001;Turner, Larimer, & Sarason, 2000).Paradoxically, despite the higher overall rates of drinking and alcohol-related problems among college populations, research consistently indicates that most college students drink moderately or not at all most of the time (Meilman, Presley, & Cashin, 1997). Nonethe...

Associations Between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Eating Pathology During Intervention and 12-Month Follow-up

“…For example, those with high evaluative concerns may be at increased risk for succumbing to sociocultural pressures to be thin, possibly due to pressure to conform to a certain sorority identity and more frequent opportunities for physical appearance comparison. Extant work suggests that, relative to other college women, sorority members may be more likely to conform to social norms related to subscription to the thin ideal of feminine beauty (Basow, Foran, & Bookwala, 2007; Cashel et al, 2003), eating behavior (Basow et al, 2007; Crandall, 1988), alcohol consumption (Larimer, Turner, Mallet, & Geisner, 2004; Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fossos, & Larimer, 2007), and other health risk behaviors (Scott-Sheldon, Carey, & Carey, 2008). These potential differences would suggest that this group is even more at risk than college women in general.…”

Trajectories and determinants of alcohol use among LGB young adults and their heterosexual peers: Results from a prospective study.

“…It has been hypothesized that a dearth of stable, intimate, and supportive peer relationships leads to increased alcohol use primarily through the development of cognitions that reinforce drinking as a means of coping with social isolation (Borsari & Carey, 2006). These social-cognitive influences also appear important in understanding the drinking behavior of specific high-risk groups, who tend to have more permissive social norms and higher alcohol expectancies (Larimer et al, 2004;Sher & Gotham, 1999). In particular, individuals with a family history of alcoholism have elevated alcohol expectancies compared with those without such a history (Conway, Swendsen, & Merikangas, 2003;Pastor & Evans, 2003;Sher & Gotham, 1999).…”

Does Sexual Self-Concept Ambiguity Moderate Relations Among Perceived Peer Norms for Alcohol Use, Alcohol-Dependence Symptomatology, and HIV Risk-Taking Behavior?

“…Indeed, the literature suggests that descriptive peer norms infl uence ADS (e.g., Larimer et al, 2004) and that ADS is related to engagement in risky sexual behaviors in both heterosexual (Tapert et al, 2001) and sexual minority samples (Irwin et al, 2006). Given these observations, it is reasonable to hypothesize that perceptions of acceptable drinking behaviors may correlate with perceptions of permissive sexual norms through common associations between alcohol misuse and associated risk behaviors, particularly in peer groups that engage in greater alcohol consumption.…”

“…Injunctive norms (i.e., one's perception of their peers' approval of drinking) have also been shown to relate to alcohol use and negative consequences (e.g., LaBrie et al, 2010), including alcohol-dependence symptoms (Larimer et al, 2004). Last, both descriptive and injunctive norms for alcohol consumption have been shown to independently relate to sexual minority women's alcohol use before college matriculation (Hatzenbuehler et al, 2008).…”

“…Perceived peer descriptive norms for alcohol involvement (i.e., one's perception of the quantity and frequency of their peers' alcohol consumption) have been linked to various indices of alcohol use, such as heavy drinking and alcoholrelated consequences Carey, 2001, 2003;Lewis and Neighbors, 2004;Neighbors et al, 2006), including in bivariate associations with alcohol-dependence symptoms (Larimer et al, 2004). Injunctive norms (i.e., one's perception of their peers' approval of drinking) have also been shown to relate to alcohol use and negative consequences (e.g., LaBrie et al, 2010), including alcohol-dependence symptoms (Larimer et al, 2004).…”