Not all drinking events are the same: Exploring 21st birthday and typical alcohol expectancies as a risk factor for high-risk drinking and alcohol problems.

Alcohol expectancies are a central construct in understanding college student typical alcohol use. However, to our knowledge, there is no research addressing how alcohol expectancies for specific events (i.e.

Individual, interpersonal, and contextual factors associated with discrepancies between intended and actual spring break drinking.

The purpose of the present paper was to examine the extent to which college students underestimate the quantity of alcohol they will consume during Spring Break (SB), and whether individual, interpersonal, and contextual factors may be related to underestimation of SB drinking and drinking consequences. College students participated in web-based surveys prior to and after SB (N=603; 57% women). Overall, results indicated that individual factors (being male, being a member of a fraternity or sorority, previously experiencing more alcohol-related consequences, and intending to drink less during SB), interpersonal factors (reporting friends encourage getting drunk), and contextual factors (going on a SB trip with friends and receiving drinks from others) predicted underestimating peak drinks consumed during SB.

Exploring the Relationship Between Stimulant Use and Gambling in College Students.

Both gambling and stimulant use are common and can lead to problems on college campuses with consequences that impact the financial, emotional, academic and physical well-being of students. Yet few studies have been conducted to understand the co-occurrence of these conditions and the increased risk factors if any that may exist for gambling and related problems. The present study is among the first to document the co-occurrence of these behaviors in both a random sample of students (N = 4640), and then to explore to what extent stimulant use impacts subsequent gambling and related problems 12 months later in an at-risk sample (N = 199).

Drinking norms, readiness to change, and gender as moderators of a combined alcohol intervention for first-year college students.

Introduction: Alcohol interventions targeting college students and their parents have been shown to be efficacious. Little research has examined moderators of intervention efficacy to help tailor interventions for subgroups of students.

Method: This study is a secondary data analysis of readiness to change, drinking norms, and gender as moderators of an efficacious peer- and parent-based intervention (Turrisi et al.

Normative perceptions of non-medical stimulant use: associations with actual use and hazardous drinking.

Unlabelled: Approximately 10% of US college students are engaged in non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NMUPS) and that use is linked to concerning health, educational, and societal consequences. Few studies have assessed normative perceptions surrounding NMUPS. Accordingly, we examined self-reported use and normative perceptions for NMUPS and demographic factors that may be associated with them.

Gambling-Related Problems as a Mediator Between Treatment and Mental Health with At-Risk College Student Gamblers.

Disordered gambling has been linked to increased negative affect, and some promising treatments have been shown to be effective at reducing gambling behaviors and related problems (Larimer et al. in Addiction 107:1148-1158, 2012). The current study seeks to expand upon the findings of Larimer et al.

An examination of depressive symptoms and drinking patterns in first year college students.

Depression and alcohol use are often found in college students, particularly during their first year. The current study assessed the interrelationship of alcohol use and specific depression symptoms. A large sample (n = 869) of first year students were invited to participate via the Internet.

Differences Between Athletes and Non-Athletes in Risk and Health Behaviors in Graduating High School Seniors.

Background: High school students involved in athletics may face additional stressors and engage in more problematic behaviors such as drinking, dieting, and gambling than non-athletes, especially as they near the end of their high school experience. Studies have in general found mixed results as to whether sports serve a protective factor or are a risk factor when it comes to a range of health behaviors.

Method: This study evaluated 653 seniors in high school who were admitted to a large, public, west-coast University, during the spring prior to college entrance, and compared 513 Athletes to 140 non-Athletes across a range of health behaviors.

Examining the associations among severity of injunctive drinking norms, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related negative consequences: the moderating roles of alcohol consumption and identity.

This study examined a range of injunctive norms for alcohol use and related consequences from less severe behaviors (e.g., drinking with friends) to more severe behaviors (e.

A randomized clinical trial evaluating a combined alcohol intervention for high-risk college students.

Objective: The current study is a multisite randomized alcohol prevention trial to evaluate the efficacy of both a parenting handbook intervention and the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) intervention, alone and in combination, in reducing alcohol use and consequences among a high-risk population of matriculating college students (i.e., former high school athletes).

Social motives and the interaction between descriptive and injunctive norms in college student drinking.

Objective: Social norms are a key determinant of young adult drinking, yet little research has evaluated potential interactive effects among different types of norms. The present research was designed to evaluate perceptions of friends' approval of drinking (i.e.

Evaluating personal alcohol feedback as a selective prevention for college students with depressed mood.

Objective: This research evaluated a brief mailed intervention for alcohol use as an adjunct to a brief treatment for college students with depression symptoms. The intervention aimed to correct normative misperceptions and reduce students' drinking and related consequences.

Method: One hundred seventy seven college students (70% Female) with elevated scores on the Beck Depression Inventory were randomly assigned to intervention or control group.

Are drinking games sports? College athlete participation in drinking games and alcohol-related problems.

Objective: Studies indicate greater heavy episodic drinking and related consequences for college student-athletes compared with nonathletes. Surprisingly, little research has examined college athletes' participation in drinking games, a context associated with excessive alcohol consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences in college students.

Method: We examined how drinking game participation contributes to alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences among college-level intramural and intercollegiate athletes compared with nonathletes in two independent samples.

A randomized clinical trial of a brief, mailed intervention for symptoms of depression.

This research evaluated the efficacy of a brief, mailed personalized feedback intervention designed to alleviate depressed mood and antecedents (ineffective coping and hopelessness). College students (N = 177) were randomly assigned to intervention or control group following a baseline assessment. A week after completing the baseline assessment, participants in the intervention condition were mailed feedback and information detailing their mood, coping strategies, as well as suggestions for enhancing mood.

Predicting drinking behavior and alcohol-related problems among fraternity and sorority members: examining the role of descriptive and injunctive norms.

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.

The relationship among alcohol use, related problems, and symptoms of psychological distress: gender as a moderator in a college sample.

This research evaluated the prevalence of general symptoms of psychological distress, the degree to which these symptoms related to alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences, and gender-specific relationships among alcohol use, alcohol consequences, and symptoms of psychological distress. The sample included 1705 students drawn from a random sample of three West Coast universities who completed the survey. Results revealed higher levels of consumption and more negative drinking consequences for men, more psychological distress symptoms reported by women, and stronger relationships between psychological symptoms and drinking consequences than use per se.