Alcohol patterns and their relation to social climate in student residence halls—A multilevel analysis

H Ståhlbrandt,M Berglund,K.O Johnsson

doi:10.4236/ojpm.2012.23043

Abstract

Background: Studies indicate that the social climate of students’ living situation, plays a role in the drinking habits of those students. Aims: To investigate the social climate of students living in residence halls in Sweden, and how this corresponds to the students’ alcohol habits. Methods: Baseline data from a randomised controlled trial performed at university halls of residence was used. Instruments included a Residence Hall Climate scale (measuring the environmental climate in residence halls), AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test), SIP (Short Index of Problems) and self-reported eBAC (estimated Blood Alcohol Level). Multilevel modelling was used to include the possible effects of residence hall and residence hall cluster. Results: Residence halls with high scores for Distance and Expressiveness also had significantly higher alcohol measure scores. Closeness values had no impact on alcohol measurements. Most of the variance of the alcohol outcome measurements was found at individual student level, but significant variance was also found at residence hall level. Conclusions: This study implies that the environment of the residence halls is a factor in the students’ alcohol habits. Changing the social climate might impact the way the students drink.

Highlights

Studies indicate that the social climate of students’ living situation, plays a role in the drinking habits of those students
Few other living arrangements have conditions and prerequisites allowing the students to interact with each other as frequently as needed to create and maintain a unique and uniform social climate. It seems that the living arrangements for the college students can be both a moderator and mediator of the students’ alcohol consumption: in a literature review, Jackson [1] showed that students with high-risk alcohol behaviour select residence halls and Greek houses, and that the living arrangements themselves have an additional influence on drinking behaviour
This paper reports the findings on social climate of the Swedish residence halls and its correlation to the students’ alcohol drinking patterns, as part of a larger alcohol intervention study reported previously [14]

Summary

Introduction

Studies indicate that the social climate of students’ living situation, plays a role in the drinking habits of those students. Few other living arrangements have conditions and prerequisites allowing the students to interact with each other as frequently as needed to create and maintain a unique and uniform social climate. It seems that the living arrangements for the college students can be both a moderator and mediator of the students’ alcohol consumption: in a literature review, Jackson [1] showed that students with high-risk alcohol behaviour select residence halls and Greek houses, and that the living arrangements themselves have an additional influence on drinking behaviour. Baer [4] states that students who are impulsive and have sensation-seeking personalities consume more alcohol than other students

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