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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Tamara L. Brown, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 115 Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, 859-257-9612, tbrow2@uky.edu and Clarenda M. Phillips, PhD, Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminology, Morehead State University, 328 Rader Hall, Morehead, KY 40351.
Myriad studies document widespread - often heavy - alcohol use among college students, many of whom are below the minimum drinking age, suggesting that college student drinking has become a national epidemic. For example, a national survey of undergraduate students from 140 colleges across the U.S., found that 86% consumed alcohol (44% were heavy episodic drinkers). And, data from the 1994 Monitoring the Future survey show that college students are more likely to drink and tend to drink more heavily than their noncollege peers. Unfortunately, nearly all of the substantial body of research on college student drinking to date has been conducted with Caucasian students. Equally troubling, when other ethnic groups have been included in research samples, analyses have tended not to be conducted on these groups. As a result, very little is known about alcohol use among a significant segment of the college-going population, namely African American students. Though research has consistently shown racial differences in alcohol consumption among adolescents (with African Americans on average consuming less than Caucasians), compelling explanations for these differences have not been offered. Thus, the aim of this conference presentation will be to present data from a study with African American college students that investigated (1) whether the factors that have been shown to predict alcohol consumption among Caucasian students might also be predictive for African American students, and (2) whether religiosity, a factor that buffers against other deleterious behaviors among African Americans, might also buffer against student alcohol consumption.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to
Keywords: Alcohol Use, African American
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.