Reign of Error Part I: Misconceptions about student drinking

Note: This is the first of a two-part series on continuing efforts to reduce the rates of high-risk drinking at CSU, Chico. Part II will provide data on the effectiveness of the social-norming approach at other universities.

Last fall, Inside Chico State reported this campus’s receipt of a new grant from the U.S. Department of Education focused on reducing alcohol abuse among freshmen at CSU, Chico. The grant partially supports a CSU, Chico alcohol-abuse prevention program.

This campus shares with other colleges and universities a concern that underage and heavy drinking too often interfere with educational progress and with student safety. Alcohol abuse recently was cited in an American Medical Association poll as the number one concern of parents of college students.

By several measures, patterns of alcohol use here exceed many other schools. For example, when results from spring 2000 and spring 2001 random sample surveys conducted by the Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC) are compared with results from other schools from across the country, CSU, Chico students average slightly more drinks per week than the national sample (means of 8 versus 6). A higher percentage of our students (57% in 2001) also report drinking five or more drinks in a row at least once in the last two weeks compared with 47 percent in the national sample.

Several key factors probably contribute to the higher figures at CSU, Chico. One is that we are a residential campus. Students away from home are likely to drink more than commuter students, who were included in the national sample. Second is the large number of alcohol-serving establishments that have emerged in Chico over the years—199 here versus 111 in Davis, for example—many of which target students with drink specials. Third is the shortage of alcohol-free weekend recreational opportunities on campus. The Associated Students are doing their best to increase alcohol-free programming at the expanded Bell Memorial Union. A new recreation center certainly would help. Fourth, new students enrolling at CSU, Chico may be influenced by the belief—misguided, as we will see below—that drinking heavily and often is necessary to fit in and make friends.

Even though the drinking figures are higher here, our students still tend to over-estimate their peers’ drinking. Thus, during this school year, CSU, Chico students have repeatedly encountered these messages as part of the “Did You Know?” campaign:

“Most Chico State students drink 0­2 days per week.” and “consume 0­5 drinks per week.”

“Most Chico State students drink 0­4 drinks at off-campus parties.”

“ ‘A’ students drink half as many drinks per week as ‘C’ students.”

These factual statements, based on the surveys mentioned above, are conveyed to students through weekly ads in The Orion, posters, e-mails, brochures, and screen savers and mouse pads in computer laboratories.

This “Did You Know?” campaign is a deliberate step being taken on campus to increase chances that students, especially first-year freshmen, will make responsible choices related to alcohol. Specific objectives are to reduce the rates of underage and high-risk drinking (5 or more drinks in a row) over the next several years.

The “Did You Know” campaign resembles other alcohol abuse prevention programs around the country that follow a “social norms approach.” Its rationale is that students, like everyone else, are motivated by basic needs to belong and be accepted. One way to satisfy these needs is to adapt behavior to what is perceived to be normal and expected. In the case of alcohol, this means drinking the amount and frequency students believe to be most common and accepted among other students.

However, as shown in more than 30 published studies, college students tend to overestimate their peers’ drinking. Still, the perceived norm becomes reality, and students tend to drink to a false standard of what is normal and expected. As one researcher in the field noted, a “reign of error” prevails. If students believe most peers drink heavily on most weekends, chances are they will do the same. If they believe most students drink moderately or don’t drink at all, they are more likely themselves to drink moderately or not to drink.

Walt Schafer, professor emeritus, sociology, and assistant to the president on alcohol issues To be continued.