As limited research exists on medical students' substance use patterns, including over-consumption of alcohol, the objective of this study was to determine prevalence and correlates of at-risk drinking among a national sample of medical students, using a cross-sectional, anonymous, Web-based survey. A total of 2710 medical students from 36 U.S.…

Building on the promise of interactive, multimedia education, this evaluation study examines an alcohol abuse prevention program, AlcoholEdu, delivered through an interactive Web-based format for the purpose of reducing the harm associated with student alcohol abuse. The study uses a clustered, randomly assigned post-test only evaluation design…

Alcohol use is highly prevalent among U.S. college students, and alcohol-related problems are often considered the most serious public health threat on American college campuses. Although empirical examinations of college drinking have relied primarily on self-report measures, several investigators have implemented field studies to obtain…

Objective: The authors aimed to develop a measure of college students' intoxicated behaviors and to validate the measure using scales assessing alcohol outcome expectancies, motives for drinking, and personality traits. Participants and Method Summary: The authors administered these measures and an inventory describing 50 intoxicated behaviors to…

This quasi-experimental field study assessed whether an incentive/reward intervention can change the drinking behavior and the subsequent levels of intoxication among college students attending fraternity parties. A total of 356 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) assessments, using hand-held breathalyzers, were obtained at two baseline and at two…

In response to recent alcohol-related tragedies and to ongoing concern about unacceptable levels of alcohol and other drug use on college campuses, Congress authorized the U.S. Department of Education to identify and promote effective campus-based prevention programs. Since 1999, the U.S. Department of Education has awarded approximately $3.5…

The authors used social marketing to design and test advertisement components aimed at increasing students' interest in attending an alcohol program focused on reaching students who drink heavily, although the authors offered no such program. Participants were undergraduate students in introductory psychology courses (N = 551). Questionnaires…

Incoming first-time, first-year students attending summer orientation (N = 1,710) at a large public university in the Southeast completed an instrument that assessed their use of alcohol and other drugs during the previous year, their perceptions of use by current students on campus, their intended alcohol use, and their intent to join a Greek…

This exploratory study was designed to compare several commonly used measures of alcohol use among college students in order to appreciate how estimations of college drinking may be affected by the type of assessment tool used. Consumption patterns of 42 college student drinkers were compared using a quantity-frequency measure, a graduated…

The U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention publishes "Catalyst," a newsletter covering current Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence (AODV) prevention issues at institutions of higher education. "Catalyst" discusses emerging issues and highlights…

Objective: Given the inconsistent findings in the literature, the authors' purpose in this study was to examine the associations between physical activity and behavioral and perceptional correlates, such as binge drinking, cigarette smoking, fruit or vegetable consumption, and weight perceptions, among midwestern college students. Participants and…

The aim of this study was to expand the assessment of two explanatory models of drinking behavior--perceptions of risk and social norms--and determine their relationship to dimensions of alcohol involvement in a multivariate evaluation. The Alcohol and Drug Survey was administered to a sample (N = 235) of college students from a university in the…

Objective: In the current study, the authors assessed whether a new online alcohol-misuse prevention course (College Alc) is more effective at reducing alcohol use and related consequences among drinkers and nondrinkers. Participants: The authors compared incoming college freshmen who reported any past 30-day alcohol use before the beginning of…

Emerging evidence suggests that elevated anxiety sensitivity (AS) is associated with substance use disorders. However, prospective evidence regarding this association is currently lacking. The primary aim of the present study was to determine whether AS is involved in the pathogenesis of substance-related psychopathology. A large, nonclinical…

The U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention publishes "Catalyst," a newsletter covering current Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence (AODV) prevention issues at institutions of higher education. "Catalyst" discusses emerging issues and highlights innovative efforts on…