The international development of the ‘Social Norms’ approach to drug education and prevention

Abstract

The international development of the 'Social Norms' approach to drug education and prevention AbstractThe social norms approach to health promotion has become remarkably popular in the last 20 years, particularly in the American college system. It is an alternative to traditional fear based approaches of health education, which a growing body of research demonstrates is often ineffective in reducing alcohol and drug misuse. The social norms approach differs by recognising that individuals, particularly young adults, tend to overestimate how heavily and frequently their peers consume alcohol, and that these perceptions lead them to drink more heavily themselves than they would otherwise do. Similar misperceptions have been found in a range of other health and non-health behaviours. The social norms approach aims to reduce these misperceptions, and thus personal consumption, through the use of media campaigns and personal feedback. Although the numbers of completed social norms projects outside the USA is small the evidence from them is that the approach can be equally effective in both European and Australian contexts. It is also acknowledged that as an emergent field there are limitations to the current social norms literature. There is a lack of randomised control trial studies, a lack of clarity of the role of referent groups and a need to better understand the processes through which misperceptions are transmitted. However despite these issues the social norms approach represents a new avenue for reducing alcohol and drug related harm and is an area which merits further research.

Normative Perceptions of Cannabis Use Among European University Students: Associations of Perceived Peer Use and Peer Attitudes With Personal Use and Attitudes

“…Therefore, normative feedback may need to be tailored for students' own usage, and possibly the degree of identification with the wider social group, to ensure that the relevant discrepancies between personal behaviors and perceived peer norms are highlighted. The proximity of reference groups featured in normative feedback may be important for cannabis use interventions focused on correcting perceived peer behaviors and attitudes, such as those based on the social norms approach (McAlaney et al, 2011). There is, however, a lack of European-based research investigating the predictive power of close friend norms versus typical student norms in predicting student cannabis use.…”

“…Interventions based on this approach attempt to address commonly held misperceptions of peer norms and reduce the perceived social pressure to engage in heavy consumption by providing feedback comparing students' perceptions of social norms at their university with actual campus norms (McAlaney et al, 2011). There is evidence that social norms-focused feedback interventions are effective in reducing student alcohol use and perceptions of peer norms (e.g., Neighbors et al, 2010).…”

“…The presence of these misperceptions for alcohol and other substances has led to the development of the social norms approach as a means of early intervention (McAlaney et al, 2011). Interventions based on this approach attempt to address commonly held misperceptions of peer norms and reduce the perceived social pressure to engage in heavy consumption by providing feedback comparing students' perceptions of social norms at their university with actual campus norms (McAlaney et al, 2011).…”

Personal and Perceived Peer Use of and Attitudes Toward Alcohol Among University and College Students in Seven EU Countries: Project SNIPE

“…Research originating from the United States (Perkins, 2003), and replicated in some European studies (Lintonen & Konu, 2004;McAlaney et al, 2011;Page et al, 2008), suggests that individuals often appear to overestimate the frequency and amount of substance use of their peers. This is referred to in the literature as an overestimation or misperception of the descriptive norm and has been identified by surveying students on their own behavior or attitude and then asking them to indicate what they think the norm is for the majority of their peers at their institution.…”

“…This approach originated in the American college system (Perkins, 2003) and has since been implemented at a number of college sites in the United States (McAlaney et al, 2011). The approach is based on challenging the apparent misperceptions about peer substance use and attitudes that students hold.…”