College Drinking Research Articles

Examining the added value of harm reduction strategies to emailed boosters to extend the effects of online interventions for college drinkers.

Objective: Brief computer-delivered interventions (CDIs) reduce college student drinking and related problems but can be less efficacious and enduring than in-person interventions. The present study examined: (a) the utility of emailed personalized boosters after an evidence-based online CDI for alcohol (i.e., eCHECKUP TO GO), and (b) the added value of including protective behavioral strategies (PBS) in boosters containing personalized normative feedback (PNF) versus PNF alone. Method: 528 young adult (ages 18-24) college drinkers (71.6% female; 52.5% Black, 40.3% White) with a mean age of 19.9 years (SD = 1.65) were randomized to receive: CDI-only; CDI plus a PNF-only booster; or CDI plus a booster containing both PNF and PBS feedback. Booster emails were sent 2 weeks post-intervention. Online surveys completed pre-intervention and at 1 and 3 months assessed alcohol consumption, problems, descriptive normative perceptions, and PBS use. Results: The CDI led to significant reductions in alcohol consumption across all conditions, with no effect of boosters on drinking. Controlling for quantity, no reductions in problems were observed. Descriptive norms reduced significantly, with no condition differences. Only PBS use showed condition effects, such that the CDI-only and PNF-only booster groups reported reduced PBS use at 1 month, but the norms-plus-PBS booster group did not. Conclusions: The CDI was sufficient to change alcohol consumption and perceived norms without boosters, although the inclusion of boosters with PBS feedback may mitigate against PBS use reductions. Longer follow-ups may detect delayed booster benefits, or a larger dose through repeated exposure over time may be needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining alcohol-related social norms among international and domestic students in the United States

Objectives The purpose of the current study is to examine college student status (international vs. domestic) across alcohol social norms perception. Methods Undergraduates (n = 3081) were recruited for the study. Most participants were female (69.9%) and White (98.2%), with the average age of participants was 19.97 (SD = 1.61). Approximately 17.3% (n = 534) of the students were international (i.e., nonresident alien who are in the US for a bachelor’s degree). It is a cross-sectional study. Results International students reported significantly lower social norms than domestic students. International students in later college years reported norms closer to domestic students. International women endorsed social norms at a higher level than international men. Conclusions Assimilation into U.S. drinking culture may be linked with increased support of drinking norms among International students. This study shows the importance of incorporating drinking norms prevention strategy and cultural diversity awareness training to increase international students’ knowledge and prevent misconceptions. International students’ social norms should be examined for future drinking interventions. Interventions for college drinking should target specific events and context with short-term increase in hazardous drinking behavior but long-lasting effects.

Racial/ethnic discrimination, ADH1B*3, and coping-motivated drinking among Black college students.

Discrimination due to race and/or ethnicity can be a pervasive stressor for Black college students in the United States beyond general negative life events and has demonstrated associations with adverse health and alcohol outcomes. Genetics may confer individual differences in the risk of drinking to cope with discrimination-related stress. This study tested whether associations of racial/ethnic discrimination with coping drinking motives and alcohol use differ as a function of a well-documented variant in the alcohol dehydrogenase 1B gene (ADH1B*3). Cross-sectional data were obtained from 241 Black students (Mage = 20.04 [range = 18-53]; 66% female) attending a predominantly White university in the northeastern United States. Participants provided a saliva sample for genotyping and self-reported on their racial/ethnic discrimination experiences, coping drinking motives, and past-month total alcohol quantity. Path models demonstrated that associations of discrimination with alcohol quantity directly or indirectly through coping drinking motives did not differ as a function of ADH1B*3, after controlling for gender, age, negative life events, and potential confounding interactions of covariates with model predictors. Regardless of ADH1B*3, greater experience of negative life events was associated with higher coping drinking motives, which in turn were associated with greater alcohol quantity. CONCLUSIONAND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Findings represent a novel investigation into gene-environment interplay in associations of alcohol use with racial/ethnic discrimination. Findings demonstrate coping-motivated drinking associated with negative life events within Black college drinkers regardless of ADH1B*3. Future research should leverage longitudinal designs to characterize associations of genetics, stressful experiences, and coping-motivated drinking over time.

#BingeDrinking—Using Social Media to Understand College Binge Drinking: Qualitative Study

BackgroundHazardous drinking among college students persists, despite ongoing university alcohol education and alcohol intervention programs. College students often post comments or pictures of drinking episodes on social media platforms.ObjectiveThis study aimed to understand one university’s student attitudes toward alcohol use by examining student posts about drinking on social media platforms and to identify opportunities to reduce alcohol-related harm and inform novel alcohol interventions.MethodsWe analyzed social media posts from 7 social media platforms using qualitative inductive coding based on grounded theory to identify the contexts of student drinking and the attitudes and behaviors of students and peers during drinking episodes. We reviewed publicly available social media posts that referenced alcohol, collaborating with undergraduate students to select their most used platforms and develop locally relevant search terms; all posts in our data set were generated by students associated with a specific university. From the codes, we derived themes about student culture regarding alcohol use.ResultsIn total, 1151 social media posts were included in this study. These included 809 Twitter tweets, 113 Instagram posts, 100 Greekrank posts, 64 Reddit posts, 34 College Confidential posts, 23 Facebook posts, and 8 YouTube posts. Posts included both implicit and explicit portrayals of alcohol use. Across all types of posts reviewed, positive drinking attitudes were most common, followed by negative and then neutral attitudes, but valence varied by platform. Posts that portrayed drinking positively received positive peer feedback and indicate that drinking is viewed by students as an essential and positive part of university student culture.ConclusionsSocial media provide a real-time picture of students’ behavior during their own and others’ heavy drinking. Posts portray heavy drinking as a normal part of student culture, reinforced by peers’ positive feedback on posts. Interventions for college drinking should help students manage alcohol intake in real time, provide safety information during alcohol use episodes, and raise student awareness of web-based privacy concerns and reputation management. Additional interventions for students, alumni, and parents are needed to address positive attitudes about and traditions of drinking.

Protective behavioral strategies as a protective factor against suicidal ideation among college student drinkers

Objective: Research shows that alcohol use is linked to suicidal ideation (SI), while depression is strongly associated with SI. Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are safe drinking strategies. PBS are broadly protective across alcohol-related problems; however, it is unclear if these effects extend to those at risk for SI. We hypothesized that alcohol use and depressive symptoms would be risk factors for SI, and that these factors would moderate the effects of PBS. PBS was hypothesized to be protective for individuals with elevated depressive symptoms and alcohol use. Participants: College student drinkers (n = 990; M age = 19.97, SD = 3.75) from a Southeastern University. Methods: Participants completed an online survey inquiring about demographics, depressive symptoms, SI, alcohol use, and PBS use. Results: Depressive symptoms were associated with an increased likelihood of SI; however, alcohol use was not. PBS were most protective for individuals with high levels of alcohol use and/or depressive symptoms. Conclusions: PBS may be protective for heavier drinkers who are at heightened risk for SI.

The Impact of Behavioral Topic on Psychological Reactance: Arousal and Freedom Restoration

ABSTRACT Psychological reactance theory (PRT) proposes that the importance of freedom, along with threat to freedom and receiver personality trait, impacts the arousal of psychological reactance and the subsequent freedom restoration. This paper presents a 2 (threat: low vs. high) × 3 (source: the CDC, victim of the health issue vs. AI) × 2 (health topic: college drinking vs. STD) between-subjects experiment (N = 765) to test the potential effects of topic and source legitimacy on reactance. Results showed that behavioral topic influenced the magnitude of psychological reactance and forms of freedom restoration simultaneously. Theoretical contributions, implications, and limitations are discussed.

Latent class analysis of drinking game consequences among college drinkers

Participation in drinking games has been identified as one specific alcohol-related context linked to increased risk for heavier alcohol consumption and negative consequences among college students. Despite advances in drinking game research, questions remain about the different types of individuals at risk from participating. The current study utilized latent class analysis to classify individuals based on their endorsement of eight negative drinking game consequences from the Hazardous Drinking Games Measure. Analyses included identification of classes among 656 college students, followed by covariate analyses regressing class membership on motives for playing drinking games, general drinking motives, impulsivity facets, general problematic alcohol use, and specific drinking game behaviors. A total of three classes were identified, including a class with the fewest number of problems, a class with higher rates of hangovers and becoming sick, and a class with relatively higher rates of a majority of the other consequences. Classes differed in endorsement of motives, impulsivity facets, general problematic consumption, and drinking game behaviors. Generally, coping, conformity, and social general drinking motives; conformity and enhancement and thrills motives for playing drinking games; the impulsivity facet of negative urgency; the number of drinks consumed while playing drinking games; playing consumption type drinking games; and general problematic alcohol use were associated with more problematic class membership. Results highlight distinct classes of individuals at risk from drinking game participation. Recommendations for future studies and potential prevention and intervention efforts are also discussed.

Perfectionism and alcohol-related problems: The role of procrastination

Objective: College drinking is a significant individual and societal problem, and thus, identifying risk factors to alcohol-related problems has been an important line of inquiry. Adding to this rich literature, the current study examined whether perfectionism dimensions were associated with alcohol-related problems and whether a poor self-regulation process linked these associations. Participants: A total of 410 university students completed measures pertaining to perfectionism, procrastination, and negative consequences of alcohol use. Methods: Parallel mediation models were tested. Results: There was support for an indirect effect in the association between perfectionistic concerns and alcohol-related problems through susceptibility to temptation but not through pure procrastination or irrational procrastination. Perfectionistic strivings dimension was not associated with alcohol-related problems and this relation was not mediated by any procrastination dimensions. Conclusions: Building internal resources to better resist immediately gratifying yet long-run detrimental behavioral habits is important, especially so for highly self-critical students.

At-risk drinking, operant demand, and cross-commodity discounting as predictors of drunk driving in underage college women

Behavioral economics offers unique tools for assessing value and motivation associated with college drinking. Tasks that model changes in consumption as a function of price (operant demand) or the decline in an outcome’s subjective value as a function of time-to-occurrence (delay discounting) provide valuable information that may efficiently supplement clinical screening instruments when characterizing alcohol use severity. The first aim of this investigation was to examine the extent to which at-risk drinking, operant demand for alcohol, and single- and cross-commodity discounting of money and alcohol predict adverse consequences of past-month drinking in underage college women (N = 72). The second aim was to determine whether these clinical and behavioral economic measures could significantly predict the odds of past-month drunk driving, a serious public health concern due to the increasing prevalence of heavy episodic drinking among women in their first 1 – 2 years of college. Results showed that higher scores on the consumption factor of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-C), higher Persistence (consumption amidst constraint) and Amplitude (maximum consumption) of demand, as well as lower rates of discounting for choices between alcohol now or double the amount after a delay (choosing the larger amount of alcohol even when it is delayed) significantly predicted adverse consequences of past-month drinking. Moreover, higher scores on the AUDIT-C, higher Amplitude of demand, and greater discounting for choices between alcohol now and money later (choosing immediately available alcohol at the expense of double the equivalent in delayed money) significantly predicted past-month drunk driving. We contend that operant demand along with single- and cross-commodity discounting can be viewed as intersecting measures of reinforcer value with clinical relevance to college women.

The interaction between Greek affiliation and religiosity on problem drinking in college students

Objective: Greek affiliation is associated with increased problem drinking in college, while religiosity typically offers protective benefits. The current study examined the interaction between Greek status and religiosity-both public (e.g., religious attendance) and private (e.g., prayer frequency)-on problem drinking. Participants and Methods: Undergraduates (N = 477) completed an online survey battery in late spring 2019, at the end of their freshman year. Results: Analyses focused on prayer frequency were not significant; however, the two-way interaction between Greek affiliation and religious attendance was significant. There was no difference in problem drinking across Greek and non-Greek students when religious attendance was low. As frequency of religious attendance increased, Greek students engaged in increased problem drinking compared to non-Greek students. Conclusions: Greek involvement may undermine the protective authority of religious practices on problem drinking, in part through moral licensing, whereby morally sound behaviors (i.e., religious attendance) may justify past or future problem drinking.

Motivational pathways to problematic drinking among Latinx college drinkers.

Though Latinx drinkers experience disparities in problematic drinking, emerging mechanisms that lead to these disparities remain understudied. The objective of this study was to examine drinking motives as the most proximal pathways to problematic drinking that mediate the effects of personality and sociocultural distal antecedents among Latinx college drinkers. A total of 264 Latinx undergraduate drinkers (67% cisgender women, 31% cisgender men, 2% gender fluid/nonconforming individuals) completed a battery of self-report measures assessing problematic drinking, drinking motives, alcohol expectancies, sensation seeking, stress, campus climate, injunctive peer drinking norms, and familismo. Consistent with hypotheses, structural equation modeling revealed that coping motives were the strongest predictors of problematic drinking. Stress, campus climate, and alcohol expectancies were indirectly associated with problematic drinking through coping motives. Unexpectedly, sensation seeking had a direct effect on problematic drinking while familismo was not a protective factor. Stress and campus climate emerged as two important sociocultural antecedents associated with problematic drinking through coping motives. Findings also generally support the tenets of motivational models of alcohol use and extend their applicability to Latinx college drinkers. Results highlight the need for culturally responsive interventions that address motivational pathways to problematic drinking within the sociocultural environment in which Latinx college drinkers are embedded. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Going against the Norm: A Mixed Methods Analysis of College Students’ Arguments against the College Drinking Culture

Objective College alcohol beliefs (e.g. “College is a time for experimentation with alcohol”) are highly predictive of heavy drinking and its consequences. Yet, current college alcohol interventions do not address this belief system even though researchers have recommended that these beliefs be targeted. Method Using a mixed methods approach, we conducted two studies to generate arguments against the college drinking culture and to evaluate the effectiveness of such arguments. Results In Study 1, freshman students (N = 104, 65% women) wrote an essay to a fictitious roommate presenting arguments against the college drinking culture. Responses were reliably coded into a 19-category scheme. The most common arguments included that (1) one’s focus should be on academics, (2) drinking will lead to academic consequences, and (3) drinking is not a rite of passage in college. In Study 2, college students (N = 488) rated the effectiveness of prototype arguments drawn from each Study 1 category. According to their ratings, the most effective arguments were that (1) one’s focus should be on academics, (2) drinking could have a negative impact on one’s career, and (3) one could do potential harm to others. Conclusions The student-generated arguments against the college drinking culture identified in his research have inherent ecological validity and will help inform the development of new interventions to counter such beliefs. We offer suggestions for translating our findings into clinical interventions. The problem of college student drinking has been long-standing (Kilmer et al., 2014) and remains a significant public health issue today (Hingson et al., 2017). Decades of research on college student drinking and its consequences have identified key cognitive factors that underlie drinking and its consequences, such as the misperception of norms for drinking (Borsari & Carey, 2003) and the positive expectancies students hold about the effects of drinking (Jones et al., 2001; Monk & Heim, 2013). The robust relationships between these cognitive variables and alcohol consumption among college students have led to the development of interventions that target these variables. Social norms marketing campaigns (DeJong et al., 2006), personalized normative feedback (Lewis & Neighbors, 2006), and expectancy challenge techniques (Scott-Sheldon et al., 2012) have been a part of interventions designed to correct students’ misperceptions about the percentage of and amount students drink and the effects that alcohol has on their functioning in social situations. Reviews of the literature have demonstrated that interventions containing these components are effective for first year students (Scott-Sheldon et al., 2014) and mandated students (Carey et al., 2016), except for interventions targeting student members of Greek letter organizations (Scott-Sheldon et al., 2016). Effect sizes in most interventions across freshman and mandated students tend to be modest and not very durable in the long-term (Carey et al., 2016; Scott-Sheldon et al., 2014). However, recent research reveals that a variety of new intervention strategies may be useful in addressing the problem of college student drinking (Dunn et al., 2020; Kazemi et al., 2020; King et al., 2020; Magill et al., 2017; Pedrelli et al., 2020; Young & Neighbors, 2019). Aside from social norms and positive alcohol expectancies, another cognitive variable has been found to be a very robust predictor, mediator, and moderator of college student drinking and its consequences – college alcohol beliefs (Crawford & Novak, 2006; Osberg et al., 2010).

The Social Functions of College Drinking: Pregaming, Priming, and Protecting the Liminoid Experience

The Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study has concluded that, on average, one in three college students abuses alcohol regularly. However, while highlighting potential risks, academic literature largely neglects the social functions students derive from consuming alcohol. College represents an important milestone in an individual’s life and is characterized by what Turner (1969) called liminoid experiences, which involve a temporary suspension of social status, at bars, clubs, concerts, festivals, and college parties, often closely connected to alcohol consumption. This paper explores how women students’ practice of “pregaming,” that is, drinking alcohol in smaller groups before attending a social event such as a party, enables individuals to achieve the liminoid state while also providing opportunities to resist potential negative consequences of intoxication. College women use pregaming to build a support network with close friends, enabling them to ensure their physical safety. Beyond the integrity of their bodies, women also ensure that their actions during the liminoid experience of a college party are consistent with ideas they have of their personal identity. Although they temporarily suspend their social and personal identities during college parties, women prevent unwanted permanent changes of their sense of self by holding each other accountable to rules they establish during the pregame.

Main outcomes of M-bridge: A sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART) for developing an adaptive preventive intervention for college drinking.

Objective: The goal was to develop a universal and resource-efficient adaptive preventive intervention (API) for incoming first-year students as a bridge to indicated interventions to address alcohol-related risks. The aims were to examine: (a) API versus assessment-only control, (b) the different APIs (i.e., 4 intervention sequences) embedded in the study design, and (c) moderators of intervention effects on binge drinking. Method: A sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART) included two randomizations: timing (summer before vs. first semester) of universal personalized normative feedback and biweekly self-monitoring and, for heavy drinkers, bridging strategy (resource email vs. health coaching invitation). Participants (N = 891, 62.4% female, 76.8% White) were surveyed at the end of first and second semesters. The primary outcome was binge drinking frequency (4+/5+ drinks for females/males); secondary outcomes were alcohol consequences and health services utilization. Results: API (vs. control) was not significantly associated with outcomes. There were no differences between embedded APIs. Among heavy drinkers, the resource email (vs. health coach invitation) led to greater health services utilization. Moderator analyses suggested students intending to pledge into Greek life benefited more from any API (vs. control; 42% smaller increase from precollege in binge drinking frequency). Conclusions: Although overall effects were not significant, students at high risk (i.e., entering fraternities/sororities) did benefit more from the intervention. Furthermore, the resource email was effective for heavier drinkers. A technology-based strategy to deliver targeted resource-light interventions for heavy drinkers may be effective for reducing binge drinking during the transition to college. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Opportunities for reducing college drinking: The roles of drinking attitudes and blackout experience.

As many as 35% of college students report having been drunk in the past month, and greater alcohol use and alcohol-related problems are associated with a positive attitude toward heavy drinking. One serious consequence of heavy drinking is alcohol-induced blackout. When they occur, alcohol-induced blackouts present a unique opportunity to increase motivation to change drinking. However, it is unclear under what conditions an alcohol-related heavy drinking attitude and experiencing a blackout represent an opportunity to change and how experiencing a blackout(s) influences an individual's motivation to reduce drinking and actual behavior. This study tested the interplay between one's positive attitude toward heavy drinking and experiencing a blackout in the past year in predicting motivation to reduce drinking (Study 1) and its impact on drinking over time (Study 2). Data were derived from complementary datasets collected at two universities (Study 1 n=703, mean age = 20.63years, 44% male, 52% White; Study 2 n=568, mean age = 19.18years, 72% male, 84% White). Drinking behavior was measured using a modified Daily Drinking Questionnaire, the Drinking Norms Rating Form, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and estimated peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Regression analyses were conducted to determine whether a blackout would moderate the association between attitude and motivation to reduce drinking (Study 1) and drinking over time (Study 2). Results revealed a significant interaction between attitude and blackout, such that individuals who experience a blackout (vs. those who do not) and positively evaluate heavy drinking evidenced lower motivation to reduce drinking (Study 1) and higher levels of estimated peak BAC (Study 2). Drinkers with a negative attitude toward heavy drinking who have experienced a blackout have the strongest motivation to reduce drinking and the greatest reductions in peak drinking behavior over time. These effects are over and above that related to the level of alcohol consumed. For young adults who do not positively endorse heavy drinking, blackouts may present a "moment of opportunity" for intervention.

Emotion regulation strategies moderate the impact of negative affect induction on alcohol craving in college drinkers: an experimental paradigm

Objectives: Observational studies suggest emotion regulation (ER) as a potential treatment target for problematic college drinking. The primary aim of this laboratory study was to determine whether trait ER strategies would moderate the impact of negative affect induction on alcohol craving in college drinkers. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to a neutral (n = 74) or a negative affect induction (n = 76) and reported their craving after the affect inductions. Results: Greater use of drinking to cope and less use of cognitive reappraisal predicted greater alcohol craving after the negative affect induction, but not after the neutral condition. In contrast, emotion suppression did not predict alcohol craving in either condition. Conclusion: Our results highlight the role of ER tendencies—particularly the benefits of cognitive reappraisal—on alcohol craving when experiencing emotional distress. Therefore, ER strategies may be an important target for college drinkers to prevent and reduce problematic drinking.

Behavioral economic indicators of risky drinking among community-dwelling emerging adults.

Objective: Behavioral economic (BE) approaches to understanding and reducing risky drinking among college students are well established, but little is known about the generalizability of prior findings to peers who currently are not traditional college students and are more difficult to reach for assessment and intervention. This cross-sectional survey investigated whether drinking practices and negative consequences were associated with greater alcohol demand, alcohol reward value, and delay discounting in this target population. Method: Community-dwelling emerging adult drinkers aged 21 to 29 (N = 357) were recruited using Respondent-Driven Sampling adapted to a digital platform (Mage = 23.6 years, 64% women). Peers recruited peers in an iterative fashion. Participants completed a web-based survey of drinking practices, negative alcohol-related consequences, and BE measures of alcohol demand, alcohol reward value, and delay discounting. Results: Regression analyses supported the study hypotheses. Higher alcohol demand (intensity and elasticity) predicted higher drinks per drinking day, more past-month drinking days, and more negative consequences. Higher alcohol reward value (discretionary alcohol spending and alcohol-involved activities) and stronger preference for sooner smaller versus later larger rewards predicted select drinking risk variables in the hypothesized direction (p < .05). Conclusions: BE risk characteristics were generalized to community-dwelling emerging adult risky drinkers, with the most consistent associations found between alcohol demand and drinking risk measures. The findings lay a foundation for extending successful BE interventions with college drinkers to this underserved population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

An examination of the prospective associations between objectively assessed exposure to alcohol-related Instagram content, alcohol-specific cognitions, and first-year college drinking

Previous research suggests that exposure to alcohol-related content on social media sites (SMSs) may inflate perceptions of drinking norms, thereby increasing drinking among college students and potentially undermining popular social norms-based alcohol interventions. However, prior research on exposure has used subjective measures of alcohol exposure and has focused mostly on Facebook. The current study focused on Instagram, a popular SMS among college students, and utilized objective time tracking and newsfeed sampling methods to rigorously examine the prospective relationship between exposure to alcohol-related Instagram content (ARIC), alcohol cognitions, and drinking. Participants were 309 matriculating college students (Mage = 18.1, SD = 0.26; 62.1% female; 46.9% White/Caucasian; 17.5% Hispanic) who had their Instagram use tracked and newsfeeds sampled via a macro several times during the transition into college (August & September), and completed a baseline survey and two follow-up surveys. A sequential mediation model examined theoretically derived pathways between objective ARIC exposure and alcohol use. Results revealed that objective ARIC exposure during the transition to college was positively associated with drinking at the end of the first year of college, and subjective frequency of ARIC exposure mediated this relationship between objective ARIC exposure and later drinking. Subjective frequency of ARIC exposure also mediated the association between objective ARIC exposure and perceptions of descriptive norms, which, in turn, predicted later drinking. These findings illustrate that greater objective ARIC exposure during the transition into college may increase risky drinking over the first year via increased subjective frequency of ARIC and elevated perceptions of drinking norms. Priority directions for future research are discussed and several novel ways in which social norms-based interventions for first-year students may be enhanced to better combat ARIC-related influences are introduced.

“Follow my Finsta”: Drinking trajectories in relation to auxiliary Instagram accounts

Objective This study explored the burgeoning youth practice of possessing a fake, secondary Instagram account known as a “Finsta” in relation to exposure to alcohol-related content and college drinking. Participants First-year university students with at least a primary Instagram account (N = 296) completed online surveys. Method Surveys assessed whether participants did or did not have a Finsta pre-matriculation (T1), Instagram alcohol content exposure one month into college (T2), and alcohol use at T1 and near the end of the first year (T3). Results Moderated mediation analysis revealed that having a Finsta at T1 was associated with greater exposure to alcohol-related posts at T2 and, for male but not female students, predicted heavier drinking at T3. Conclusion Findings are consistent with previous results suggesting that males may be more behaviorally impacted by peers’ depictions of alcohol use on social media. This carries implications for social media-based intervention efforts targeting first-year students.

Does attending a college with more heavy drinking peers increase risk of heavy drinking and consequences? A prospective national analysis.

Heavy drinking in college increases risk for negative consequences. Among a national sample of high school abstainers and moderate drinkers, we hypothesized that the extent of heavy drinking among students on campus would be among the strongest predictors of first semester heavy drinking and consequences, relative to personal approval of alcohol use and sociability and impairment outcome expectancies. We expected these psychological factors to moderate effects of campus heavy drinking. Data from 90,455 abstainers and 97,168 moderate drinkers matriculating at 245 and 242 universities, respectively, were drawn from AlcoholEdu (EverFi, 2013), a web-based intervention completed by most first-year students at participating universities. Students reported alcohol use, approval, expectancies, and covariates prior to enrollment (Time 1). During the first semester (Time 2), abstinence, moderate drinking, or heavy drinking, and negative consequences experienced were reassessed. Campus heavy drinking reflected the percentage of other students attending the same school who engaged in heavy drinking at Time 2. In multilevel multinomial logistic regression models, campus heavy drinking was consistently among the strongest predictors of heavy drinking and consequences: It predicted an 83% and 82% increase in risk of heavy drinking and a 106% and 91% increase in risk of consequences among students who were abstainers and moderate drinkers at Time 1, respectively. There were few interactions among campus heavy drinking and psychological factors. Post hoc analyses supported that students did not self-select into heavier drinking environments. Campus heavy drinking is a key predictor of first semester alcohol use and an important intervention target. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).