Let's Get This Party Started: The Effects of Descriptive and Injunctive Norms on Preparty Behavior in College Students

Rutledge, Patricia C.; McCarthy, Barbara J; Lendyak, Rebecca M.

doi:10.3109/10826084.2013.824473

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This research has uncovered both practical (to save money, avoid arrest) and enhancement (enjoy evening more, facilitate intimacy) motives for pregaming, and both measures could provide rich topics of feedback or discussion in the content of an intervention. Finally, college students overestimate the frequency and quantity of pregaming by peers (Pedersen & LaBrie, 2008), as well as peer approval (Rutledge, McCarthy, & Lendyak, 2014), resulting in perceptions of a permissive social context for pregaming. Thus, providing corrective normative feedback on overestimations of pregaming among similar peers may be expected to alter students’ perceptions of how often their peers drink and how much alcohol they consume while doing so, in which case changes in pregaming norms may also be expected to change, and perhaps mediate, intervention effects on pregaming behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does a Brief Motivational Intervention Reduce Frequency of Pregaming in Mandated Students?

Borsari

Merrill

Yurasek

et al. 2016

Substance Use & Misuse

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Pregaming, also known as frontloading or predrinking, is a common but risky drinking behavior among college students. However, little is known about the way in which a brief motivational intervention (BMI) addressing general alcohol use and consequences may impact pregaming frequency. Objectives This study examined whether mandated students reduced frequency of pregaming following a BMI when pregaming was spontaneously discussed and whether gender moderated these effects. Methods Participants (n = 269, 32% female) were mandated college students who had received a campus-based alcohol citation and continued to exhibit risky alcohol use six weeks after receiving a brief advice session. Participants were randomized to a brief motivational intervention (BMI, n = 145) or assessment only (AO, n = 124) and completed follow-up assessments at 3, 6, and 9 months postintervention. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine both between-person (Level 2) effects (i.e., condition) and within-person (Level 1) effects (i.e., time) on pregaming frequency. Analyses examining discussions of pregaming within the BMI were conducted using a sub-sample of the BMI sessions which had been transcribed (n = 121). Results Participants in the BMI group did not significantly reduce the frequency of pregaming compared to those in the AO group, even when pregaming was explicitly discussed during the BMI. Moreover, the BMI was equally ineffective at reducing pregaming frequency for both males and females. Conclusion/Importance Pregaming frequency appears to be resistant to conventional intervention efforts, but recent research suggests several innovative strategies for addressing pregaming in the college student population.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does a Brief Motivational Intervention Reduce Frequency of Pregaming in Mandated Students?

Borsari

Merrill

Yurasek

et al. 2016

Substance Use & Misuse

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Many college students tend to overestimate both descriptive and injunctive norms, which in turn may lead students to increase their drinking habits to match elevated drinking norms (12). Descriptive norms have also been shown to play a role in pregaming (13,14), and some research suggests that injunctive norms for pregaming might significantly impact pregaming participation in male students, but not female students (15). That said, little else is known about the impact of injunctive norms on participation in other risky drinking behaviors such as drinking games and tailgating.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drinking games, tailgating, and pregaming: Precollege predictors of risky college drinking

Moser

Pearson

Hustad

et al. 2014

The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The transition from high school to college is a critical period for developing college drinking habits. Hazardous alcohol consumption increases during this period, as well as participation in drinking games, pregaming, and tailgating. All of these risky drinking practices are associated with higher levels of intoxication as well as an increased risk of alcohol-related problems. Objective The current study aimed to evaluate pre-college predictors (personality, social norms, and beliefs reflecting the internalization of the college drinking culture [ICDC]) of estimated peak BAC (pBAC) reached during drinking games, pregaming, and tailgating, as well as pBAC and alcohol-related problems during the first 30 days of college. Methods Participants (n =936) were incoming freshmen at a large university who completed a baseline assessment prior to college matriculation and a follow-up assessment after they had been on campus for 30 days. Results Using path analysis, ICDC was significantly associated with pBAC reached during the three risky drinking practices. ICDC had an indirect effect on both pBAC and alcohol-related problems via pBAC from drinking games, pregaming, and tailgating. Hopelessness and sensation seeking were significantly related to alcohol use outcomes. Conclusion Precollege perceptions of the college drinking culture are a stronger predictor of subsequent alcohol use than social norms. Interventions that target these beliefs may reduce peak intoxication and associated harms experienced during the first 30 days of college.

show abstract

“…In Caudwell and Hagger's (2015) study, greater perceived approval from others about one's engagement in pregaming was correlated with pregaming frequency and predicted pregaming via greater intentions to pregame (Caudwell & Hagger, 2015). In Rutledge, McCarthy, and Lendyak (2014), pregame-specific injunctive norms was a significant predictor of alcohol consumed while pregaming (i.e., pregaming quantity) among men, independent of pregaming descriptive norms. Still, results were far from conclusive; pregaming injunctive norms, after controlling for pregaming descriptive norms, did not predict pregaming quantity among women or pregaming frequency with respect to either gender.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Rutledge and colleagues (2014) found that descriptive norms related to the quantity of typical students' alcohol consumption while pregaming (but not frequency) was associated with past year pregaming frequency, after controlling for pregaming injunctive norms, in college women but not men. Further, as mentioned previously, Burger and colleagues (2011) demonstrated that women, but not men, responded to artificially low descriptive norms feedback by reducing frequency of pregaming relative to same-sex controls.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

The Effect of Descriptive Norms on Pregaming Frequency: Tests of Five Moderators

Merrill

Kenney

Carey

2016

Substance Use & Misuse

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Pregaming is highly prevalent on college campuses and associated with heightened levels of intoxication and risk of alcohol consequences. However, research examining the correlates of pregaming behavior is limited. Descriptive norms (i.e., perceptions about the prevalence or frequency of a behavior) are reliable and comparatively strong predictors of general drinking behavior, with recent evidence indicating that they are also associated with pregaming. Objectives We tested the hypothesis that higher descriptive norms for pregaming frequency would be associated with personal pregaming frequency. We also tested whether this effect would be stronger in the context of several theory-based moderators: female gender, higher injunctive norms (i.e., perceptions of others' attitudes toward a particular behavior), a more positive attitude toward pregaming, a stronger sense of identification with the drinking habits of other students, and stronger social comparison tendencies. Methods College student drinkers (N=198, 63% female) participated in an online survey assessing frequency of pregaming, descriptive norms, and hypothesized moderators. Results A multiple regression model revealed that higher descriptive norms, a more positive attitude toward pregaming, and stronger peer identification were significantly associated with greater pregaming frequency among drinkers. However, no moderators of the association between descriptive norms and pregaming frequency were observed. Conclusions/Importance Descriptive norms are robust predictors of pregaming behavior, for both genders and across levels of several potential moderators. Future research seeking to understand pregaming behavior should consider descriptive norms, as well as personal attitudes and identification with student peers, as targets of interventions designed to reduce pregaming.

show abstract

Let's Get This Party Started: The Effects of Descriptive and Injunctive Norms on Preparty Behavior in College Students

Cited by 14 publications

References 41 publications

Does a Brief Motivational Intervention Reduce Frequency of Pregaming in Mandated Students?

Does a Brief Motivational Intervention Reduce Frequency of Pregaming in Mandated Students?

Drinking games, tailgating, and pregaming: Precollege predictors of risky college drinking

The Effect of Descriptive Norms on Pregaming Frequency: Tests of Five Moderators

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About