Using social cognitive theory to develop alcohol policy at college football games

Background: The atmosphere surrounding college football games is often impacted by excessive alcohol consumption. Reactive alcohol policies enacted to prevent crime and injury are generally not grounded in theory. Purpose: The study explains how to apply the concepts of Social Cognitive Theory to develop a proactive theory-driven stadium alcohol policy for on-campus college football stadiums. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to assess the prevalence of theory-based policy approaches, focusing on alcohol policies, in sport venues. Results from the systematic review suggest that most policies are implemented without theory in mind. Instead they are often problem-focused, to manage risk and lower crime rates. To date, limited research has compared the effectiveness of theory-based to non theory-based policies in changing and/or controlling risky behaviors related to alcohol use. Thus, researchers reviewed theory application studies to depict appropriate theories for the development of alcohol policies that could be applied in the real-world setting of college football stadiums. Results: Each concept of Social Cognitive Theory may be used to apply toward stadium policy development. With all of the concepts of the theory in place and polices determined, individuals are motivated and informed by the facets of the policy to mold their behavior in a certain way. Conclusions: A policy grounded in Social Cognitive Theory enables spectators, law enforcement, and administrative officials to provide input into the policy and sporting event environment, which may increase the likelihood of spectators to subscribe to the enacted policy and engage in safer and healthier behavior.