Alcohol use, greek life, and social norms campaign messaging: A 2008 cross-site comparison

Fraternity and sorority members typically are over-represented among high risk drinkers as college students. This presentation uses data from the 2008 National College Health Association (NCHA) Survey by eight schools with social norms campaigns to examine associations among alcohol use, social norms messaging and use of protective behaviors by members of fraternities and sororities.

The NCHA data includes measures of alcohol use (quantity and frequency), negative consequences and protective behaviors of more than 6,700 students, 621 of whom report membership in a Fraternity (N= 232) or Sorority (N= 389). Additional available information includes social norms messages, campaign dosage and delivery methods. We compare the risk and protective behaviors of students affiliated with the Greek system with those who are not. Students are divided, by sex, into four distinct groups, based on quantity and frequency of drinking episodes. These groups represent consumption levels from abstinence to heavy drinking, and are compared across school, Greek membership, and social norms campaign messaging.

Although students participating in Greek life are more likely to report quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption representing heavy, episodic drinking, they are also more likely to report engaging in some protective factors associated with a reduction in the negative consequences related to alcohol use (χ2= 17.5, df=4, p<.01). The presentation includes detailed multivariate analyses examining the effectiveness of social norms messaging about protective factors for Greeks versus non-Greeks. Implications of these findings as well as social norms implementation strategies will be discussed.