Study Finds Colleges Not Implementing Community-Based Strategies to Curb Alcohol Use

While heavy student drinking has been implicated in recent disturbances and tragedies on college campuses, few schools and communities have united successfully in curbing alcohol access, a new study suggests. Researchers noted that most colleges are not implementing community-based approaches, which have been found to be effective in reducing college drinking. The study was reported in Health Behavior News Service.

Administrators perceive student drinking as a major concern, but they focus a lot on individual interventions and campus-based alcohol restrictions, and not enough on toughening community policies, said Toben Nelson, Sc.D., a study author and University of Minnesota researcher.

For the study, administrators from 351 schools responded to an online survey in 2008. The study appears online and will also appear in the October issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

In their survey of four-year institutions, researchers asked whether they were following recommendations from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Its college drinking task force had issued a report in 2002 grouping strategies based on effectiveness and relevance to students.

Six years later, “we found very little action on the task force recommendations and very little implementation,” said Nelson, an assistant professor in the epidemiology and community health division. “Very few had even had conversations in the communities.”

Evidence shows that community-based alcohol control is effective in reducing college drinking. Policies include monitoring illegal sales, requiring responsible beverage service training, limiting the number of retail alcohol outlets and increasing prices.

Yet, only a third of college communities performed compliance checks for illegal sales, while 15 percent mandated server training, the survey indicated. Only 7 percent restricted alcohol outlet density in the community and 2 percent raised prices.

Most administrators knew about the recommendations, but more than 22 percent did not.

Nearly all colleges –– 98 percent –– educated students about the consequences of excessive drinking. The most common methods consisted of lectures, meetings or workshops, followed by poster campaigns, then online and computer-based programs.

At each school, researchers targeted an administrator most informed about alcohol initiatives. Typically, the administrator was the vice president of student affairs or dean of students.

About two of three colleges reported providing intervention for problem drinkers or those at high risk, either on campus or through payment for off-campus services. However, almost one in four of these colleges did not offer any programs supported by scientific evidence.

To learn more about ways to curb alcohol use on college campuses, visit www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov.