What Affects College Students' Decision to Intervene or Not Intervene When Someone Is Drinking Too Much?

Objective: Medical amnesty policies aim to encourage individuals to help their peers who have been drinking too much by providing immunity for alcohol policy violations. We examined college students' decisions to intervene or not intervene when someone was drinking too much and reasons for not intervening.

Method: We conducted secondary analyses using data from college students ages 18-25 who participated in the Healthy Minds Study, a national survey of mental health and substance use (N = 30,785; 65% female).

Association between alcohol-impaired driving enforcement-related strategies and alcohol-impaired driving.

All states in the U.S. prohibit alcohol-impaired driving but active law enforcement is necessary for effectively reducing this behavior.

Current use of underage alcohol compliance checks by enforcement agencies in the United States.

Background: Compliance checks conducted by law enforcement agents can significantly reduce the likelihood of illegal alcohol sales to underage individuals, but these checks need to be conducted using optimal methods to maintain effectiveness.

Methods: We conducted a national survey of local and state enforcement agencies from 2010 to 2011 to assess: (i) how many agencies are currently conducting underage alcohol compliance checks, (ii) how many agencies that conduct compliance checks use optimal methods-including checking all establishments in the jurisdiction, conducting checks at least 3 to 4 times per year, conducting follow-up checks within 3 months, and penalizing the licensee (not only the server/clerk) for failing a compliance check, and (iii) characteristics of the agencies that conduct compliance checks.

Results: Just over one-third of local law enforcement agencies and over two-thirds of state agencies reported conducting compliance checks.

Differences in tobacco use among two-year and four-year college students in Minnesota.

Objective: This study compares tobacco use rates among two-year and four-year college students and explores the demographic variables that predicted that behavior.

Participants: 9,931 students at 14 two-year and four-year colleges in Minnesota participated.

Methods: Students at 11 schools completed an online survey, and students at 3 schools completed a paper survey in 2007.

Smoker self-identification versus recent smoking among college students.

Background: College students who engage in occasional or social cigarette smoking are less likely to identify themselves as smokers and to attempt to quit. This analysis aimed to determine: (1) the correlates of denying being a smoker among students reporting smoking in the past 30 days and (2) if denying this label was related to not attempting to quit smoking in the past 12 months.

Methods: A total of 9931 students at 14 colleges completed a random sample survey in 2007.

Monitoring and decreasing public smoking among youth.

This study examined the impact of tobacco possession laws on public smoking among youth. There were two intervention sites: a fast food restaurant and a shopping mall. Two control sites were also monitored for public smoking among youth.