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Abstract #160558

Elizabeth N. Bush, MHS and Bradley O. Boekeloo, PhD, MS. Department of Public and Community Health, University of Maryland, 2387 Valley Drive, HHP Building, College Park, MD 20742, 301-405-2554, enbush@umd.edu

Objectives: To determine how many students intentionally drink to get drunk and the correlates and consequences of this behavior.

Methods: Students (n=1296) living in predominantly freshmen dormitories at a large, public, Mid-Atlantic university were invited to complete a web-based survey and 551 responded. The 333 (60.4%) who reported drinking alcohol during the previous 30 days were asked how often they drank to get drunk during the semester (responses dichotomized to “never” and “ever”). Summative scales around various constructs were created: consequences (18 items, alpha=.87); self-efficacy to drink moderately (10 items, alpha=.89); dormitory wing norms (5 items, alpha=.69); wing acceptability of drinking (8 items, alpha=.88); attachment to wing-mates (6 items, alpha=.91); Resident Assistants' attitudes toward drinking (5 items, alpha=.74). Whether drinking to get drunk was associated with the constructs above after controlling for student demographics was examined with logistic regression.

Results: Drinking to get drunk was frequently reported (77.0%) and associated with negative consequences (O.R.=1.2, 95% C.I.=1.0-1.4), decreased self-efficacy to drink moderately (O.R.=0.89, 95% C.I. .81-.98), drinking as part of a drinking game (O.R.=2.8, 95% C.I. 1.1-7.3), binge-drinking (O.R.=3.9, 95% C.I. 1.5-10.1), drinking before going to a party or bar (O.R.=4.0, 95% CI 1.6-9.8), and drinking during the weekend (O.R.=5.4, 95% CI 1.5-18.9).

Conclusion: Students in predominantly freshmen dormitories often intend to get drunk, and this intention is associated with specific types of drinking behaviors, lower self-efficacy to drink moderately, and negative consequences. A better understanding of the motivation to get drunk could lead to more effective college risk reduction programs.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize that many students are drinking with the motivation to get drunk.
• Identify environmental and behavioral correlates of drinking to get drunk.
• Better understand the motivation of drinking to get drunk.
• Discuss aspects of drinking motivations that may aid intervention design.

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Behavioral Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.