The transition to college includes exposure to new cultures, such as the college drinking culture, which is likely to be encountered within the first few weeks. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of 242 first-semester undergraduate students' written comments to open-ended questions about their perceptions of and expectations for…

Introduction: The excessive consumption of alcohol by college students is a major public health problem in the U.S. Heavy alcohol use has been linked to numerous consequences ranging from less serious effects (i.e.., hangovers) to death. Decades of research have linked certain beliefs, attitudes or motivations to drinking behavior but intensive…

Most institutions of higher education have recognized the detrimental impact of high-risk alcohol use on college students' success and it has been strongly recommended that prevention practitioners incorporate faculty members in prevention efforts in order to reduce college student alcohol use. Despite the large body of literature that has…

Objective: This study examined negative control (ie, perceived lack of control over life outcomes) and need for control as predictors of alcohol-problem recognition, evaluations (good/bad), and expectancies (likely/unlikely) among college students. The study also explored the interaction between the need for control and alcohol consumption in…

Objective: This study explored associations between positive alcohol expectancies, and demographics, as well as academic status and binge drinking among underage college students. Participants: A sample of 1,553 underage college students at 3 public universities and 1 college in the Southeast who completed the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey in the…

Objective: The present study reports on the results of a 2.5-year college-wide, coordinated intervention that was implemented from June 2007 to December 2009 to reduce the amount and frequency of students' alcohol consumption. Design: Quasi-experimental study using a one-group (freshmen living on campus) pretest/posttest design ("N" =…

Alcohol is the most widely abused substance among America's youth (Department of Health and Human Services, 2007). A significant portion of alcohol abuse occurs in college. College is often symbolized by a tradition of drinking that is entrenched in every level of a student's environment. The purpose of this study was to examine alcohol…

Background: Past research suggests that parent-child communication can serve as protective factors to reduce alcohol misuse among college-aged children. Purpose: This article presents the methodology used and preliminary findings for developing and validating an instrument to assess parent-college student communication regarding alcohol use.…

Objective: The authors examined the association between social anxiety and drinking game (DG) involvement as well as the moderating role of social anxiety-relevant alcohol outcome expectancies (AOE) in social anxiety and DG involvement among college students. Participants: Participants were 715 students (74.8% women, M[subscript age] = 19.46, SD =…

Objectives: To examine the reliability and validity of a new measure of alcohol outcome expectations for college students, the Alcohol Consequences Expectations Scale (ACES). Methods: College students (N = 169) completed the ACES and several other measures. Results: Results support the existence of 5 internally consistent subscales. Additionally,…

This study contributes to the scarce research on U.S. college students studying abroad by documenting general and sexual negative alcohol-related risks and factors associated with such risk. The manner of drinking (quantity vs. frequency), pre-departure expectations surrounding alcohol use while abroad, culture-related social anxiety, and…

Objectives: This exploratory study examined pre-event drinking, or pregaming, by US college students. Participants: 112 undergraduates from 10 Pennsylvania colleges participated. Method: A focus group, including a written questionnaire, was conducted at each institution. Results: Only 35.7% of the participants had not pregamed during the last 2…

Drinking behaviors, positive expectancies regarding alcohol, and perceptions of social norms regarding drinking on campus of female college students were compared to the responses of the men. The survey responses of 935 university students attending a large, ethnically diverse, public university were analyzed by gender and ethnicity. Females…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of curricular-based interventions housed within first-year success courses on alcohol expectancies and high-risk drinking behaviors. Specifically, we longitudinally assessed 173 students enrolled in one of ten first-year success courses, including five that received the alcohol intervention and…

Objectives: The authors examined whether the relationship between alcohol expectancies and sexual experiences while drinking differed between Latino and white college students. Participants: The authors considered students if they were white or Latino, unmarried, aged 18-25 years, reported any drinking, and had at least 1 sexual partner in the…