Prevention Works!

Binge Drinking Continues on College Campuses

A recently completed Harvard School of Public Health survey indicates that binge drinking is a common practice among four-year college and university students. Researchers collected data from a sample of 17,600 students at nearly 150 campuses nationwide to chart the extent, practices, and profiles of collegiate binge drinkers.

Among men, binge drinking is consuming five or more alcoholic beverages in a row. Women must drink just four (or more) drinks in a row to be considered binge drinkers. Survey findings include the following trends:

• 44 percent of student respondents binge drank at least once in the two weeks prior to the survey. Among men surveyed, 50 percent were binge drinkers, while 30 percent of women exhibited binge drinking behavior.
• 50 percent of binge drinkers were frequent binge drinkers--they had three or more binge drinking episodes within a two-week period. The majority of frequent binge drinkers report intoxication as a motivator for drinking.
• Among frequent binge drinkers, 62 percent of men and 49 percent of women admitted driving under the influence of alcohol.
• Binge drinkers experience a higher percentage of alcohol-related problems such as disciplinary problems, violence, irresponsible sexual activity, personal injury, and poor academic performance.
• Students who binge drank in high school were three times more likely than their peers to continue this pattern in college.
• Residents of fraternity and sorority houses were four times more likely to binge drink than other students.
• Few of the surveyed students, including frequent binge drinkers, believed they had a problem controlling their drinking.
• Compared to their peers, frequent binge drinkers were most likely to use illicit drugs.

As the prevention community develops prevention measures that take these trends into account, remembering that 56 percent of college students do not engage in binge drinking behavior may help them design more effective strategies.

To receive a complimentary copy of this PreventionAlert, call SAMSHA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) @ 1-800-729-6686, TDD 1-800-487-4889 (for the hearing impaired.)

PREVENTIONAlert is supported by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and may be copied without permission with appropriate citation. For information about PREVENTIONAlert, please contact CSAP by phone (301) 443-0581 or e-mail gensley@samhsa.gov