Student Hosts Drink More Than Their Guests
College life is synonymous with the party life. Many students earn new freedom when they leave home for a college town, and they often find that there are more parties around than they could possibly attend. Before long, they may be hosting parties themselves.
A new study conducted by researchers at Ohio State University provides insight into the behaviors of those who host the parties in college towns. The study found that of college students, on average, about 10 percent are possibly hosting a party.
The researchers also found that for those parties located off campus, the host may be partying more than the guests, drinking more alcohol and participating in more consumption related behaviors, like vandalism, than the students who came to the party. This is contrasted by the finding that hosts of the parties on campus are inclined to drink and engage in alcohol-related behaviors less than their guests.
The researchers, led by Cynthia Buettner, assistant professor of human development and family science, found that hosts of college parties are more liable than students coming to the party to be of the male gender, a Greek organization member, in at least their second college year, and living off campus. In addition, they tend to have more spending money than the students attending their parties.
The researchers surveyed 3,796 students online throughout two academic year cycles. The findings are published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
The authors of the study believe that the results may provide helpful information for universities developing strategies to decrease binge drinking at these college parties. Buettner explains that the host sets the atmosphere of the party. They plan what types of alcohol to offer and decide who the attendees will be. Buettner says that the study’s findings could help with promoting healthy party-planning for college students.
The study’s findings provide the first detailed information about the behaviors of those hosting the parties. The first study to compare the activities of hosts of parties off campus with those on campus, and to compare the hosts and the students attending the parties has revealed interesting trends.
The researchers surveyed students about eight separate weekends between the years of 2005 and 2007. Out of 3,796 participants in the study, over 12 percent reported that they had hosted a weekend party.
The survey’s results indicated that of the parties, approximately 80 percent had been hosted off campus, and the usual number of attendees was between 25 and 60 students.
Party hosts who held their gathering off-campus drank, on average, nearly nine alcoholic beverages, while guests consumed about 7.5 drinks each. But for on-campus parties, the hosts drank,on average, 4.5 alcoholic beverages, compared to the 7.5 alcoholic drinks consumed by their guests.
Hosts of an off-campus party were further likely to engage in alcohol-related problem behaviors than both their attendees and on-campus hosts. The behaviors included in the survey were vandalism, rioting, arguing or physical fighting, flashing, mooning, and other negative behaviors.
