Prevention Efforts Underlying Decreases in Binge Drinking at Institutions of Higher Education

Abstract

Analyses of 94 Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE)-sponsored drug-prevention programs and their outcomes used the Core Survey to identify 34 institutions where college students' binge drinking increased (M = 5.44%) and 60 institutions where it decreased (M = -4.59%) during 2 years of program operation. The authors used an inductively derived taxonomy of prevention program elements, student variables, student substance use, use-related variables, and institutional variables to compare the 2 groups of institutions. Only prevention program elements discriminated between groups. Factor analysis of discriminating elements identified 8 prevention factors that improved base-rate prediction of institutional decrease in binge drinking by 28.1%. Factor synthesis yielded a 3-construct binge-drinking prevention model based on student participation and involvement strategies, educational and informational processes, and campus regulatory and physical change efforts. This model improved base-rate prediction of decreased binge drinking by 33.2%.

Drunk Driving and the Prediction of Analogous Behavior: A Longitudinal Test of Social Learning and Self-Control Theories

“…This suggestion fits well with the recommendations of other researchers who have either questioned the long-term and special-population efficacy of deterrence (Houston & Richardson, 2004;Pogarsky & Piquero, 2003;Ziemelis et al, 2002) and those who have openly based their programs on other theoretical models (Adams et al, 2006). While our findings do not give unqualified support for the social learning and social control aspects of drunk driving episodes by chronic alcoholics, they do suggest that we should consider alternatives to deterrence-based programming and the use of diagnostic instruments that allow practitioners to determine who is more likely to be impacted by what kind of programming.…”

“…Given the heavy deterrence emphasis of past efforts to control drunk drivers, those directing future efforts should probably widen their search for theoretical grounding (Ziemelis et al, 2002). This suggestion fits well with the recommendations of other researchers who have either questioned the long-term and special-population efficacy of deterrence (Houston & Richardson, 2004;Pogarsky & Piquero, 2003;Ziemelis et al, 2002) and those who have openly based their programs on other theoretical models (Adams et al, 2006).…”

“…Hence early reliance on deterrence theory did not seem justified by emerging Downloaded by [Umeå University Library] at 08:31 18 November 2014 Drunk Driving 329 data early in the twenty-first century. In fact, researchers and policy makers began to describe the absence of theory-based programming as an emerging problem for those seeking to address this problem on a national basis (Adams, Evans, Shreffler, & Beam, 2006;Ziemelis, Bucknam, & Elfessi, 2002). Chronic offenders, alcoholics, and binge drinkers, for example, may be less threatened by criminal sanctions, loss of driving privileges, and related sanctions than other types of drunk drivers (Pogarsky & Piquero, 2003;Yu, Evans, & Clark, 2006).…”

Drinking locations and alcohol-related harm: Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations in a sample of young Swiss men

“…Thus, interventions targeting a decrease in alcohol consumption in these specific locations, may complement existing interventions focused on reducing the frequency of RSOD (e.g. Ziemelis, Bucknam, & Elfessi, 2002).…”

Development and Implementation of a Curriculum Infusion Plan for Alcohol Abuse Education in a College Population

“…12 A large-scale study conducted by the Fund for Improvement of PostSecondary Education found that decreases in binge drinking rates were greatest on campuses where CI for alcohol abuse was emphasized as part of the university's model for binge drinking prevention. 13 CI has also been shown to effectively reduce negative drinking consequences, increase knowledge about the dangers of alcohol abuse and social norms, and in many instances also decrease alcohol consumption rates. 11,13 -15 The effectiveness of CI does not appear to vary across course subject or student demographics, and it has been shown to provide prevention messaging to students who may not seek out this information on their own.…”