Development and evaluation of a comprehensive program to reduce drinking and impaired driving among college students

Abstract

This report describes the development of a program to reduce drinking on a college campus. The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce motor vehicle crashes resulting from driving after drinking, as well as other health and social problems that result from alcohol consumption by young persons in a university environment. To understand student drinking this project employed a unique approach: a nighttime survey in which randomly selected students provided breath samples that allowed measurement of their blood alcohol concentration (BAC). During the fall of 1997, BAC measurements were obtained from 1,786 students as they returned home between 10 p.m. and a.m. Although 23% of students had been drinking, high BACs were relatively uncommon. Eleven percent of students had a BAC above .08 and less than 2% were above .15. Even on traditional party nights (Thursday through Saturday), 65% of students returned home with a .00 Through a series of discussions with students, a basic message was developed that was clear and easily understood by students: Whether it's Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night, out of UNC students return home with a .00 BAC. A comprehensive program was developed to deliver this message to the student community. The BAC survey was repeated during the fall of 1999. Information about awareness and understanding of the 2 out of 3 program was obtained from the sample of 2,535 students. Seventy-one percent of students and 92% of first year students were aware of the program. Among those who had heard of the program, 70% understood the fact to mean that drinking is less common or that pressure to drink is less than is typically believed. The proportion of students with a BAC above .08 declined from 10.7% to 8.3%, a statistically significant decline of 22%. Student incidents involving alcohol also declined in association with the 2 out of 3 program. However, self-reported drinking, as typically measured, did not change from the earlier survey.