High School and College Alcohol Onset and Later Use and Consequences

• In Event: Drug Use Trajectories: Risk and Protective Factors

Abstract

Although alcohol experimentation and use during college is developmentally normative, it remains a status offense and students and universities suffer consequences when heavy drinking occurs, including: injuries, illicit drug use, academic problems, sexual assaults on campus, and development of alcohol use issues and disorders. Youth that might not otherwise develop long-term problems or alcohol-use disorders can experience “hiccups” or “snares” in which infrequent or episodic drinking has immediate consequences (e.g., legal trouble, car accident, unplanned pregnancy) and disrupts adjustment trajectories. Despite popularity of college alcohol research in recent decades, little is known about the development of alcohol use and its consequences across multiple years of college. The purpose of the project is to explore the longitudinal relationship between college drinking onset, perceived alcohol norms, and alcohol-related behaviors, including legal and illegal consequences. The relationships are explored utilizing data from a multi-year pilot study in which a small cohort of incoming college freshmen was followed from the first days on campus until the end of junior year. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected on multiple occasions during that timeframe. Preliminary results suggest that onset timing was strongly linked to normative perceptions and later consequences. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Authors

• Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, University of Nebraska - Omaha

• Julie Garman, University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Amy L. Anderson, University of Nebraksa - Omaha