Study Examines Risky Behavior on Spring Break

College students seem to live for spring break – the parties, the trips, the drinking and the overall risky behaviors. The good news is that some students are less likely to engage in this behavior, according to this Science Daily release.

A new study found that students who make arrangements with friends to “get their backs” are less likely to take risks during spring break activities. The study was conducted by the University of Michigan, which found that 60 percent of more than 650 college freshmen reported that they have an understanding with their friends regarding alcohol use during spring break.

Of the students participating in the study, almost 24 percent agreed that they would get drunk, and 18 percent agreed that they would not get drunk. More than half reported not having an understanding regarding sexual behavior, while 16 percent had agreed to use a condom if they engaged in sex.

Agreements among friends were significantly more likely among men than they were among women. More men reported having an understanding with friends that they would get drunk on spring break: 29 percent of men had this agreement, while only 18 percent of women reported the same. Four times as many men also reported they had struck agreements with friends to have sex with someone new.

The study also found that women were more likely to have understandings about safer behavior, including an agreement to not get drunk. Almost twice as many women as men reported agreements with friends to not have sex with someone new, although men were more likely to have agreements that they would use condoms if they had sex.