College alcohol beliefs: Measurement invariance, mean differences, and correlations with alcohol use outcomes across sociodemographic groups.

Abstract

Undergraduate students who believe that alcohol plays a central role in college life are prone to drink more frequently, in larger quantity, and experience more drinking problems. The College Life Alcohol Salience Scale (CLASS) measures individuals' college-related alcohol beliefs, but has been used predominantly in Euro American and freshman student samples. Emerging research suggests mean differences in college alcohol beliefs by gender and years in college, and measurement nonequivalence across nations. It remained unclear whether the CLASS functioned the same way across segments of the U.S. college population, whether students across sociodemographic groups differed in their college alcohol beliefs, and the extent to which these beliefs predicted their drinking-related outcomes. This study included 1,148 undergraduates (Mage = 19.95; 65.0% women; 44.9%, 19.9%, 10.3%, and 16.7% Euro, Asian, African, and Latinx Americans, respectively). Most students lived on campus (69.9%) and were not affiliated with the Greek system (65.7%). Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses supported scalar invariance of the CLASS scores across gender, years in college, and campus residence. The scale data achieved metric invariance and partial scalar invariance for ethnicity and Greek membership status. Associations between college alcohol beliefs and alcohol consumption, and drinking problems, were equivalent across sociodemographic categories, but differences in latent mean scores were found across gender, ethnicity, and Greek affiliations. Clinical utility of the CLASS and implications for considering college alcohol beliefs as a risk factor for hazardous alcohol use are discussed.

Racial Microaggression, Overt Discrimination, and Distress: (In)Direct Associations With Psychological Adjustment

“…Perhaps negative emotionality is more closely linked to internalizing symptoms than health risk behaviors such as alcohol consumption and related outcomes (Lui & Quezada, 2019). Additionally, other contextual and cognitive factors (e.g., drinking norms and liberal college alcohol beliefs) are likely more robust determinants of drinking behaviors than neuroticism among college students (Borsari & Carey, 2003;Lui, 2019). Nonetheless, accounting for trait neuroticism in the regression analyses ruled it out as a confound in the link between racism experiences and psychological adjustment.…”

College alcohol belief and alcohol use: Testing moderations by cultural orientations and ethnicity.

“…Additionally, most items in the SMAS demonstrated equivalent scale functioning across ethnic groups in terms of U.S. and heritage cultural orientations. Whereas college alcohol beliefs were understood similarly across many segments of the college population for the most part (Lui, 2019), their associations with drinker status and alcohol consumption were conditional on students' heritage cultural orientation. Specifically, believing that alcohol is an integral part of the college experience is linked to greater odds of being a drinker, but the association is relatively weaker among those who are more connected to their ethnic heritage society.…”

“…The present findings underscore the importance of prevention efforts that screen and target college students for alcohol involvement. First, the CLASS is a brief and relatively robust screening tool for alcohol beliefs among college students; administering the CLASS to assess students' college alcohol beliefs can raise awareness and provide individualized feedback in prevention and intervention programs (Lui, 2019). Challenging favorable college alcohol belief very early on in college, such as de-emphasizing the integral role of alcohol on campus and promoting other important aspects of the college experience (e.g., academic achievement and sense of community; Toomey & Wagenaar, 2002), may be a viable means to prevent hazardous drinking (Cooper, 1999).…”

Identifying the Assumptions and Bias That Affect Screening and Brief Interventions for Harmful Alcohol Use

“…About 37% engaged in binge drinking during that same time frame. The belief that alcohol use is a normal rite of passage is widespread among freshman college students (Lui, 2019). In Lui's (2019) cross-sectional survey study of 1,148 college-age students, those students were most likely to engage in HAU if they believed that regular alcohol use, including binge drinking, was an acceptable and realistic expectation of the college experience.…”

“…The belief that alcohol use is a normal rite of passage is widespread among freshman college students (Lui, 2019). In Lui's (2019) cross-sectional survey study of 1,148 college-age students, those students were most likely to engage in HAU if they believed that regular alcohol use, including binge drinking, was an acceptable and realistic expectation of the college experience. The consequences of binge drinking are especially concerning due to the increased vulnerability for accidents, motor vehicle crashes, and assaults (Hingson et al, 2017).…”