Psychology Commons^™

Alcohol Abstinence Or Harm-Reduction? Parental Messages For College-Bound Light Drinkers, Joseph W. Labrie, Sarah C. Boyle, Lucy Napper

Heads Up!

Parental communications about alcohol can have a significant impact on college students’ alcohol use; however, it is unclear what types of communication may be most beneficial for reducing alcohol risk, particularly among students who have already initiated alcohol use. The present research examines differences in alcohol use and employment of drinking protective behavioral strategies between pre-college matriculation high school seniors receiving predominantly abstinence parent messaging and students primarily receiving harm-reduction parent messaging. Students who identified as light drinkers were recruited during their last month in high school and completed an online assessment of alcohol use and parent alcohol communication. Analyses …

Normative Feedback For Parents Of College Students: Piloting A Parent Based Intervention To Correct Misperceptions Of Students’ Alcohol Use And Other Parents’ Approval Of Drinking, Joseph W. Labrie, Lucy E. Napper, Justin F. Hummer

Heads Up!

Objective

Multi-component parent-based interventions (PBIs) provide a promising avenue for targeting alcohol use and related consequences in college students. Parents of college-aged children can have a significant influence on their children’s alcohol use decisions. However, parents tend to underestimate their own child’s alcohol use and overestimate other similar parents’ approval of student drinking. These misperceptions could have important implications for parents’ own attitudes and alcohol-related communication with their student. Targeting these misperceptions through normative feedback could help promote greater and more in-depth alcohol-related communication. The present study examines the potential efficacy of web-based alcohol-related normative feedback for parents of college …

Family History Of Alcohol Abuse Associated With Problematic Drinking Among College Students, Joseph W. Labrie, Savannah Migliuri, Shannon R. Kenney, Andrew Lac

Heads Up!

Studies examining family history of alcohol abuse among college students are not only conflicting, but have suffered various limitations. The current report investigates family history of alcohol abuse (FH+) and its relationship with alcohol expectancies, consumption, and consequences. In the current study, 3753 student participants (35% FH+), completed online assessments. Compared to FH−same-sex peers, FH+ males and FH+ females endorsed greater overall positive expectancies, consumed more drinks per week, and experienced more alcohol-related negative consequences. Further, FH+ females evaluated the negative effects of alcohol to be substantially worse than FH− females. An ANCOVA, controlling for age, GPA, race, and alcohol …

Self-Consciousness Moderates The Relationship Between Perceived Norms And Drinking In College Students, Joseph W. Labrie, Justin F. Hummer, Clayton Neighbors

Heads Up!

The current research examines whether self-consciousness subscales have prognostic value in the relationship between perceived norms and drinking and if that differs among college men and women. Results indicate that self-consciousness moderates gender differences in the relationship between perceived social norms and drinking. A strong positive relationship was found between perceived norms (descriptive and injunctive) and drinking for men relative to women and this was more pronounced among individuals who were lower in public self-consciousness. Similarly, the relationship between perceived injunctive norms and drinking was significantly stronger among men than women and this was more pronounced among individuals who were …

Drinking Game Participation Among College Students: Gender And Ethnic Implications, Eric R. Pedersen, Joseph W. Labrie

Heads Up!

Participation in drinking games by college students has recently sparked research attention. While previous research indicates that women play drinking games at lower frequencies than men, the current study reveals that college women may be playing games at rates similar to college men. In a sample of 105 coed college students, participants completed a 3-month Timeline Followback recording every drinking event and quantity consumed. They then were prompted to identify which drinking events involved drinking games and how much alcohol was consumed during game playing. Both men and women engaged in drinking games at similar rates and consumed more drinks …

Reducing Heavy Drinking In College Males With The Decisional Balance: Analyzing An Element Of Motivational Interviewing, Joseph W. Labrie, Eric R. Pedersen, Mitch Earleywine, Hutson Olsen

Heads Up!

The decisional balance, a brief detailing of the advantages and disadvantages of behavior change, serves as a key component to interventions in Motivational Interviewing. The impact of this component alone is not well understood. Forty-seven men completed a Timeline Followback interview assessing alcohol consumption and unsafe sexual practices. They then completed a decisional balance, listing the Pros and Cons of decreasing their drinking, but not one for safer sex. One-month follow-up data showed that they had statistically significant and clinically meaningful increases in their motivation to alter drinking and decreases in the number of drinks that they intended to drink, …