WHAT WORKS
Strategies that Work for Many College Students
It's no accident that most college students party safely. Research shows that students plan ahead and use protective strategies when they party or socialize. (Well, duh, we know students aren't stupid, so it just makes sense. Students like to have a good time, and they try to avoid getting hurt and having problems.)
Several years ago researchers in the Midwest conducted focus groups with college students who drink and discovered 10 common protective strategies. Since then, these 10 strategies have been researched using the National College Health Assessment (NCHA). Students who identified themselves as drinkers are asked the following question:
During the last school year, if you 'partied'/socialized, how often did you... ?
- Keep track of the number of drinks you were having
- Determine in advance not to exceed a set number of drinks
- Pace your drinks to 1 or fewer per hour
- Avoid drinking games
- Alternate non-alcoholic with alcoholic beverages
- Drink alcohol look-alike beverages
- Choose not to drink
[you read correctly; even drinkers sometimes choose not to drink at all at a party]
- Eat before and/or during drinking
- Use a designated driver
- Have a friend let you know when you have had enough"
Does the use of strategies mean less harm?
A recent study1 analyzed the 2002 NCHA data set, which contains surveys from 28,258 students at 44 campuses. The researchers wanted to find out how many students used protective strategies and if the students who used strategies experienced fewer problems. This analysis found that of those students who drank in the past 30 days, 73 percent usually or always used at least one of the 10 strategies. 64 percent reported using at least two.
The NCHA survey also asks questions about harm as a consequence of drinking in the past year. The study looked at four consequences -- physical injury to self, physical injured to another, being involved in a fight, and experiencing someone using force or threat of force to have sex. The incidence of problems was correlated with the number of strategies students used. The results clearly show that the more strategies students used, the safer they were.
Active Control Strategies
This research also suggests that the strategies with the greatest protective effect were those where the student took active control of his/her own behavior. Counting drinks and pacing drinks correlated with the least amount of harm. That's why 0-4 is such a popular choice.
On the other hand, depending on friends ("have a friend let you know when you have had enough") can be a helpful strategy, but it doesn’t seem to be as helpful in preventing harm as being proactive.
Strategies related to other factors also appear to be correlated with decreased harm. These strategies include staying with the same group of friends while drinking, remaining in one location while drinking and consuming only one type of alcohol.
The choice is not simply to drink or not to drink. Students get to choose from a variety of strategies that can help them have a good time -- and stay safe. Students in our focus groups at VCU have told us about additional protective strategies not listed in the national research. And we know there are more!
What's your strategy?
We would love for students share strategies so others can gain from their wisdom. Consider submitting your ideas -- to win money and to help other students stay safe. Go to Competition.
1 To request a copy of the protective behavior research, contact Rich Rice, rrice@niu.edu. |
