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Results and Recommendations from the Task Force on College Drinking

Fred Donodeo, M.P.A National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Jesuit Association of Student Personnel Administrators
March 19 , 2005

NIAAA: Bringing Science to the Field

• Lead federal agency for research on the causes, consequences, prevention, and treatment of alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and alcohol problems
• Responsible for 90% of U.S. research in this area
• Disseminate research findings to scientists, practitioners, policy makers, and public (urging adoption of science-based information)

NIAAA Task Force on College Drinking

Chairs: Rev. Edward Malloy (Notre Dame) and Dr. Mark Goldman (South Florida)

Members:

• College Presidents
• Researchers
• Students

Timeframe: 1998-2002

Task Force Roster:

• Presidents
  • Rev. Edward Malloy, Notre Dame (Co-chair)
  • Tomas Arciniega, Cal. State Bakersfield
  • Robert Carothers, URI
  • John Casteen, UVA
  • Edward Foote, U of Miami
  • Michael Hooker, UNC Chapel Hill
  • William Jenkins, LSU
  • William Kirwan, Ohio State
  • James Lyons, Cal. State Dominguez Hills
  • Susan Resneck Pierce, U. of Puget Sound
  • Judith Ramaley, U of Vermont
• Researchers and Practitioners
  • Mark Goldman, USF (Co-chair)
  • Marilyn Aguirre-Molina, Columbia U.
  • David Anderson, George Mason
  • Michael Fleming, Wisc-Madison
  • Bill DeJong, HEC
  • Ellen Gold, Eastern Michigan
  • Ralph Hingson, BU
  • Harold Holder, PIRE
  • Patrick Johnson, CASA, Columbia
  • Donald Kenkel, Cornell
  • G. Alan Marlatt, U of Washington
  • Marcus Rothschild, VA Med. Cntr
  • Robert Saltz, PIRE
  • Kenneth Sher, U of Missouri
  • Henry Wechsler, Harvard
  • Sharon Wilsnack, U. of North Dakota
  • Robert Zucker, U of Michigan

NIAAA Task Force on College Drinking

Why Created?

• Increased public and NIAAA concern
• Congressional inquiries
• Gaps in research
• Need to provide science-based information to colleges
• Bring research to the forefront of the discussion

Goals

• Source of new, comprehensive analysis and data on extent of the problem
• Science-based recommendations to presidents and administrators
• Science-based recommendations to NIAAA and the research community
• Encourage all stakeholders to embrace rigorous methodology and research-based solutions; assist with new initiatives

Why was this task force unique?

• First project of such length (3 years) involving presidents and researchers who deliberated to reach their conclusions
• First NIH report on college drinking to offer recommendations based on a comprehensive review of the research literature
• First report to offer tiered, research-based recommendations to presidents and staff
• Offers a comprehensive research agenda to address gaps in knowledge

Planning and Evaluation Handbook

Results and Recommendations

Snapshot of College Drinking Consequences (All statistics are annual)

• Death: 1,400 Alcohol-Related Unintentional Injury Deaths
• Injury: 500,000 unintentional injuries
• Assault: 600,000 assaults
• Sexual Abuse: 70,000 victims of sexual assault
• Unsafe sex: 400,000 had unprotected sex; 100,000 too intoxicated to give consent
• Drunk Driving: 2.1 Million Drove Under the Influence
• Academic problems: 25% report negative academic consequences

Other Relevant Trends

Students who drink most include:

• Males
• Whites
• Members of fraternities and sororities
• Athletes
• Some first year students

Schools where excessive drinking is more likely to occur:

• Greek systems dominate
• Athletic teams are prominent
• Schools in Northeast

Schools where excessive drinking is least likely to occur:

• 2-year institutions
• Religious schools
• Commuter schools
• HBCUs

Recommendations

• The 3-in-1 Framework -- “a useful introduction to encourage presidents, administrators, college prevention specialists, students, and community members to think in a broad and comprehensive fashion about college drinking”
• Individuals, including at-risk or alcohol-dependent drinkers
• Student body as a whole
• College and surrounding community

Tier 1: Evidence of Effectiveness Among College Students

• Combining cognitive-behavioral skills with norms clarification and motivational enhancement interventions
• Brief motivational enhancement interventions
• Challenging alcohol expectancies

Tier 2: Evidence of Success With General Populations That Could Be Applied to College Environments

• Increased enforcement of minimum drinking age laws
• Implementation, increased publicity, and enforcement of other laws to reduce alcohol-impaired driving
• Restrictions on alcohol retail outlet density
• Increased prices and excise taxes
• Responsible beverage service policies
• Formation of campus and community coalition involving all major stakeholders (for implementation)

Tier 3: Evidence of Logical and Theoretical Promise, But Require More Comprehensive Evaluation

Adopting and evaluating promising campus-based policies and practices, such as:

• Friday classes and exam
• Expanded alcohol-free late night student activities
• Eliminating keg parties where underage drinking is prevalent
• Alcohol-free dormitories
• Older, salaried resident assistants
• Controlling or eliminating alcohol at sports events; prohibiting tailgating parties that model heavy alcohol use
• Refusing sponsorship gifts from alcohol industry
• Banning alcohol on campus, including at faculty and alumni events
• Increasing enforcement at campus-based events that promote drinking
• Increasing publicity about enforcement of underage drinking laws on campus and eliminating “mixed messages”
• Consistently enforcing disciplinary actions associated with policy violations
• Conducting marketing campaigns to correct student misperceptions about alcohol use
• Provision of “safe rides” program
• Regulation of happy hours and sales
• Informing new students and parents about alcohol policies and penalties before arrival and during orientation periods

Tier 4: Evidence of Ineffectiveness

• Informational, knowledge-based, or values clarification interventions about alcohol and problems associated with excessive use, when used alone
• Providing blood alcohol content feedback

Conclusions

• Problems associated with abusive and underage college drinking are more widespread than previously recognized
• NIAAA report and conclusions are not an end, but a beginning – we want to continue to be a resource for information and research
• Provide the foundation for science, rather than anecdote, to guide college drinking prevention efforts
• On-going Products and Activities
• NIAAA College Drinking Web site
• Orientation Fact Sheet
• New College Bulletin
• Regional Workshops
• Curriculum for Campus Health Care Providers
• NIAAA Rapid Response Grant Program
• NIAAA College Web site
• Full reports
• Online alcohol policies
• Interactive body
• New expanded parents section coming soon
• Continued popularity: 21 million hits to date, and growing each month (Feb. 05: 1.2 million hits)

Orientation Fact Sheet

• Excerpts from Task Force Report
• Focus on first 6 weeks
• Media Release 2003– 2.7 million impressions
• Univ. Rhode Island – 2004 Orientation

For more information on printing with your logo, contact Fred Donodeo at NIAAA.

An Important Update: New College Bulletin

• New Statistics
• New Definition of Binge Drinking
• New Discussion of Alcohol Poisoning
• New Chart of Drinking Patterns during Freshman Year
• Updates on NIAAA’s “Rapid Response” Grant Program and “Underage Steering Committee”

Regional Workshops

• Wake Forest (North Carolina)
• U. of Puget Sound (Multi-state)
• Many in conjunction with HEC statewide coalitions

More to come...

Curriculum for Campus Health Care Providers

• For campus-based health clinics
• Identify and treat students either at risk for, or having, alcohol problems

Four Modules

• Epidemiology and Prevention
• Screening and Assessment
• Brief Interventions
• Motivational Interviewing

Continued Support for Research

• Rapid Response Grants
• “Investigator-initiated” Grants
• NB: Loyola Marymount and Fordham

For Materials and More Information

• www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov
• NIAAA College Task Force Publications Catalog

Contact

Fred Donodeo
fdonodeo@niaaa.nih.gov