Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109617

Shelly Campo, PhD, Community and Behavioral Health, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, E237 GH, Iowa City, IA 52244, 319-384-5393, shelly-campo@uiowa.edu, Jill Tyler, MA, Communication Studies, University of South Dakota, Noteboom Hall 301, Vermillion, SD 57069, and Peter Nathan, PhD, Department of Community and Behavioral Health, The University of Iowa, E225A General Hospital, Iowa City, IA 52242.

Recent efforts to address alcohol consumption by college students have focused on environmental strategies even though research to date has largely failed to examine these issues from the local community's perspective. This study used qualitative interviewing and analysis to develop a broad understanding of how community leaders (n=52) from the faith, business, government, education, media, neighborhood association, and enforcement segments perceive alcohol issues in a university community in which binge drinking rates and negative consequences are significantly higher than national averages. Overwhelmingly, community leaders largely perceived college alcohol consumption as normative, and the province primarily of the decisions of individuals. Negative consequences of alcohol consumption were seen as largely a problem for the individual abusers, affecting the community minimally in their call on public resources and the inconvenience associated with public intoxication and crime. Broader public health concerns, including safety, violence, addiction, and quality of life, were either absent or minimized by respondents, who focused on cultural and economic perspectives. Responses supported the major tenets of social comparison theory: upward comparisons nationally and to other state and Big 10 universities resulted in alcohol use on this campus being seen inaccurately as average, or only slightly above average, and negative consequences as below average. Participants pointed to the lack of a noteworthy, negative consequence (e.g., a riot, multiple deaths) as evidence that the problem was “not that bad.” Subtle differences between community segments were identified. Implications for developing health communication strategies addressing abusive alcohol consumption in college communities are discussed.

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