Effects of Team Climate on Substance Use Behaviors, Perceptions, and Attitudes of Student-Athletes at a Large, Public University

Abstract

College student-athletes comprise a special group on the college campus owing to their dual roles as students and athletes. Although many positives are associated with being a student-athlete (Nelson & Wechsler, 2001), researchers have found that this population is faced with unique academic, physical, and social stressors that put student-athletes at greater risk for substance use than their nonathlete peers (e.g., Baer, 2002; Hildebrand, Johnson, & Bogle, 2001; Huang, Jacobs, Derevensky, Gupta, & Paskus, 2007; Presley, Meilman, & Leichliter, 2002; Wilson, Pritchard, & Schaffer, 2004). These studies have indicated that college student-athletes binge drink at higher rates than nonathletes and that binge drinking tends to increase as participation in athletics increases. In addition, Leinfelt and Thompson (2004) found that student-athletes were three times more likely to be arrested for alcohol-related behaviors than nonathletes. However, studies comparing the non-medical drug use of student-athletes and their peers have been inconclusive, with Huang and coworkers (2007) and Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdell, and Grossman (1997) finding lower rates of drug use among college student-athletes compared with the findings of Nattiv and Puffer (1991) and Rockafellow and Saules (2006), which showed higher rates of drug use among the student-athlete population. The work of Rockafellow and Saules has suggested that extrinsic motivation within the athletic community may impact the higher rates of substance use among the student-athlete population.