Role of the Transtheorectical Model in Intervention for Binge Drinking Behaviors in Underage College Students

Objective: A major public health problem facing American colleges is binge drinking by the student body with dire outcomes on academic achievement, self-fulfillment, and long-term health. The short-term negative consequences of binge drinking include memory loss, hangovers and blackouts. Binge drinking has been related to campus problems, such as, rape, suicides, violence, sexually transmitted diseases (STD's), heightened aggression, automobile accidents, property damage, and academic failure. This study investigated the relationship of impulsivity and readiness to change binge drinking behavior among college students attending a 4-year college institution. The theoretical formulation for this study was based on Prochaska and DiClemente's transtheorectical model. Design: The participants were 269 undergraduate college students from a state-supported Southeastern University. The volunteer students were recruited from undergraduate classrooms, fraternities and sororities. Three surveys were administered including the Student Alcohol Questionnaire (SAQ), Barratt's Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11), and the Readiness to Change Questionnaire (RCQ). Analysis was conducted using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) with Tukey's post hoc comparisons. Results: The results demonstrated that impulsivity was significantly correlated with binge drinking and readiness to change drinking behavior. Conclusions: Despite recent significant efforts to understand and prevent binge drinking, minimal advances have been made and the behavior continues on most campuses today across the nation. The results of this current study also may have valuable implications for the current and future design of alcohol prevention programs at institutions of higher education. Specifically, the findings supported a focus on the individual needs of college students who binge drink.