Drinking Behaviors of College-Age Adults
Parents expect that their children will have many new experiences when they leave for college, reflecting their newfound independence and freedom from rules at home. Among those new experiences are social settings where alcohol is present and drinking is encouraged by fellow students.
For parents whose children do not go on to college, they may also expect that their children as young adults will find new ways to express their independence. However, is transitioning from high school to an option other than college as conducive to alcohol experimentation as leaving for the college campus?
A new study conducted by Ashlee C. Carter and colleagues examines several previous studies that compared drinking by college attendees and young adults that were not attending college. The study is a review of the factors that influence drinking behavior in young adulthood.
The researchers wanted to place college drinking within its larger developmental context, reviewing studies that compared drinking behaviors of college students with that of their age-matched non-college student peers.
Across the studies there were some consistent themes, such as discrepancies in the conceptualization and operationalization of both college status and non-college status. The discrepancies were examined to discover how they influence conclusions about drinking outcomes.
The researchers examined 18 studies that compared college students with nonstudents. The results revealed that college students drank more than non-college peers, and drank more frequently than non-college peers. The researchers concluded that the differences were the result of factors other than college attendance itself.
Younger students or non-students drank more than older participants of both groups. College students were more at risk for alcohol-related problems, such as alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence, also concluded to be the result of factors other than college attendance.
The results of the study indicate that it is not college attendance that causes college students to drink more than non-college students. Factors such as living situations, employment, age and full-time or part-time status as students are important in evaluating risk for alcohol use.
The study’s authors caution that the results of the studies examined should be examined within the larger context of developmental processes observed during the early adult years, and should not be ascribed necessarily to academic participation.
For both groups, there is value in understanding that leaving for college does not guarantee that a student will drink, neither does staying home ensure that a young adult is not struggling with alcohol. Parents are cautioned to watch for signs of inappropriate alcohol use as their child transitions into adulthood.
