Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Use Of Protective Behavioral Strategies And Reduced Alcohol Risk: Examining The Moderating Effects Of Mental Health, Gender And Race, Shannon R. Kenney, Joseph W. Labrie

Heads Up!

Recent research indicates that protective behavioral strategies (PBS)—previously established as effective self-regulating tools for reducing alcohol risk among college students—may be especially useful for students with poor mental health, who are shown to be at heightened risk for alcohol-related harm. The current study examined the moderating influence of mental health (depression and anxiety severity), gender, and race (White, Asian) in the relationship between PBS use and alcohol-related negative consequences. Participants were 1,782 undergraduate students from two West Coast universities who reported past month incidence of heavy episodic drinking. Students reported on their drinking, experience of alcohol-related consequences, use of PBS, …

Rct Of Web-Based Personalized Normative Feedback For College Drinking Prevention: Are Typical Student Norms Good Enough?, Joseph W. Labrie, Melissa A. Lewis, David C. Atkins, Clayton Neighbors, Cheng Zheng, Shannon R. Kenney, Lucy E. Napper, Theresa Walter, Jason R. Kilmer, Justin F. Hummer, Joel Grossbard, Tehniat M. Ghaidarov, Sruti Desai, Christine M. Lee, Mary E. Larimer

Heads Up!

Objectives

Personalized normative feedback (PNF) interventions are generally effective at correcting normative misperceptions and reducing risky alcohol consumption among college students. However, research has yet to establish what level of reference group specificity is most efficacious in delivering PNF. This study compared the efficacy of a web-based PNF intervention employing eight increasingly-specific reference groups against a Web-BASICS intervention and a repeated-assessment control in reducing risky drinking and associated consequences.

Method

Participants were 1663 heavy drinking Caucasian and Asian undergraduates at two universities. The referent for web-based PNF was either the typical same-campus student, or a same-campus student at one (either …

Academic Self-Efficacy, Coping, And Academic Performance In College, Mehjabeen Khan

Student Published Works

This study serves as a pilot study for a possible future study including the same variables. The purpose of the pilot study was to find a relationship in the college academic setting between academic self-efficacy, stress coping skills, and academic performance. Sixty-six undergraduate students, 17 male and 49 female, from a university in northwestern United States participated in the study. Stress was measured using the COPE Inventory (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). Self-efficacy was measured using the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (Chemers, Hu, & Garcia, 2001). Academic performance was measured using the participants’ college GPA. Academic Self-Efficacy and the Planning subscale …

Gender Differences In The Associations Among Body Mass Index, Weight Loss, Exercise, And Drinking Among College Students, Adam E. Barry Phd, Shawn Whiteman Phd, Anna K. Piazza-Gardner Ms, Alexander C. Jensen Phd

Faculty Publications

Objective: To explore gender differences regarding weight management behaviors of college drinkers. Participants: Nationally representative sample of college students from the fall 2008 American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment II (N = 26,062 students). Methods: Structural equation modeling was used to examine potential gender differences in associations among exercise, weight loss behaviors, and alcohol use. Results: Critical ratio tests revealed that associations between exercise and weight loss behaviors were more strongly correlated among females as compared with males. For females, there was a small negative association between exercise and drinking behaviors; in contrast, for males, there was a …

Perceptions Of A Dating Couple Conflict Resolution Interaction And Relationship Quality As Predictors Of Depressive Symptoms In A College Student Sample, Annie M. Ledoux

Honors College

This study examines how perceptions of a conflict resolution interaction are related to measures of relationship quality and adjustment in a college student sample. Participants included 152 college students involved in a romantic relationship. All participants completed questionnaires to assess features of their romantic relationship and to measure depression. Couples participated in a recorded conflict resolution discussion, and used a video-recall procedure to assess their subjective perceptions of the interaction. Analyses revealed that depressive symptoms were significantly correlated with both low levels of positivity and high levels of negativity during the interaction and in the relationship generally. A stepwise multiple …

Highlands College Students' Driving Habits, Cory Doto-Dyer, Paul Clark

Posters

The purpose of this study is to understand driving habits of college students. The study demonstrates potential inappropriate behaviors.

Onboarding And Career Development For Undergraduate Work-Study Employees, Kara M. Turman

Librarian Publications

Work based learning experiences can help students choose careers, network with potential employees, select courses of study, and develop job skills directly related to future employment. This practicum focuses on the student library assistant’s work-study experience and career development in the library circulation department of a northeastern United States liberal arts university.

Event-Specific Risk And Ecological Factors Associated With Prepartying Among Heavier Drinking College Students, Justin F. Hummer, Lucy Napper, Phillip E. Ehret, Joseph W. Labrie

Heads Up!

Using event-specific data, the present study sought to identify relevant risk factors and risky drinking patterns associated with prepartying. Analyses focused on drinking outcomes as a function of drinking game playing and the social context on occasions where prepartying did and did not occur. This research utilized a representative two-site sample of prepartiers who also reported a heavy episodic drinking event in the past month (n = 988). Results revealed that during a preparty event, participants drank significantly more, reached higher blood alcohol levels (BALs), and experienced significantly more negative consequences compared to the last occasion that they drank but …

College Students' Alcohol Consumption Habits, Perceptions, Readiness To Change And Exposure To A Brief Information Based Intervention, Matthew Boudreau

Psychology Honors Papers

The current study sought to compare the effectiveness of two brief information based interventions. The first exposed to participants information regarding accurate social norms college student alcohol consumption and a second which focused on information regarding the effects of alcohol on the brain and body. The effectiveness of the interventions was investigated by comparing initial scores on the Readiness to Change scale (RTC; Rollnick et al. 1992) to scores on the same scale after a two week follow up. It was hypothesized that the groups who received the intervention would both show significant increases in scores on the contemplative and …

Are We Becoming More Socially Awkward? An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Technological Communication Use And Social Skills In College Students., Cecilia Brown

Psychology Honors Papers

This study examined the relationship between the use of technological communication and social skills in college students. A total of 112 male and female undergraduate students at Connecticut College were surveyed about their social skills, social anxiety, technology use, and technology preference. Sixteen of these participants returned to participate in a conversation taking place in a lab setting that was observed by the researcher, in order to evaluate non-verbal social skills. We predicted that participants who used technological communication more frequently or preferred it to face-to-face communication, would have lower social skills and high social anxiety. In addition, women were …

Correlates Of Compulsive Buying, Brittaney Benson-Townsend, N. Clayton Silver

McNair Poster Presentations

Compulsive buying is a chronic issue for shoppers exacerbated by a nation obsessed with consumption. To predict compulsive buying behavior, a survey was administered to 283 college students in southern Nevada. The results suggested that the compulsive buyer exhibits am ex­ternal consumer locus of control and purchases goods with the intent to increase social status or quell anxiety. Given that responsible financial behavior changes as a function of age, college students are particularly vulnerable to compulsive purchasing behavior, as it is exacerbated by irresponsible credit spending behaviors.

Extended Communication Efforts Involved With College Long-Distance Relationships, Michael W. Firmin, Ruth L. Firmin, Kailee Lorenzen-Merical

Psychology Faculty Publications

The present phenomenological, qualitative research study involved in-depth interviews of all 16 female, sophomore students involved in respective distance relationships at a private, selective, comprehensive, Midwest university. Among other results found in the study, the present article focuses on communication dynamics involved with the relationships. Results showed key communication constructs to involve learning to communicate in a distance milieu, interpreting the tone of their boyfriend’s voice, compensating for their lack of contexts, working harder at communication, and committing themselves to the extra efforts involved with good communication. Generally, the women were content with their relationships. We interpret the findings to …

Testing Misconceptions And Building Excitement In A Psychology And The Law Course, Emily Stark

Psychology Department Publications

Did you know that there is no evidence that verifies that each person's fingerprints are truly unique, or that even trained dental examiners cannot accurately match bite marks to the teeth of a suspect? Thinking about our misconceptions can make us excited to learn more about a topic, so that we understand why we were wrong. This article discusses a method that I developed to address misconceptions about psychology and the legal system and to get students excited to learn more about these topics.

The Assessment Of Protective Behavioral Strategies: Comparing The Absolute Frequency And Contingent Frequency Response Scales, Benjamin A. Kite, Matthew R. Pearson, James M. Henson

Psychology Faculty Publications

The purpose of the present studies was to examine the effects of response scale on the observed relationships between protective behavioral strategies (PBS) measures and alcohol-related outcomes. We reasoned that an "absolute frequency" scale (stem: "how many times..."; response scale: 0 times to 11 + times) conflates the frequency of using PBS with the frequency of consuming alcohol; thus, we hypothesized that the use of an absolute frequency response scale would result in positive relationships between types of PBS and alcohol-related outcomes. Alternatively, a "contingent frequency" scale (stem: "When drinking ... how often ..."; response scale: never to always …

Impulsivity Like Traits And Risky Driving Behaviors Among College Students, Matthew R. Pearson, Elaine M. Murphy, Ashley N. Doane

Psychology Faculty Publications

The present study examined the predictive effects of five impulsivity-like traits (Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, Negative Urgency, and Positive Urgency) on driving outcomes (driving errors, driving lapses, driving violations, cell phone driving, traffic citations, and traffic collisions). With a convenience sample of 266 college student drivers, we found that each of the impulsivity-like traits was related to multiple risky driving outcomes. Positive Urgency (tendency to act impulsively when experiencing negative affect) was the most robust predictor of risky driving outcomes. Positive Urgency is a relatively newly conceptualized impulsivity-like trait that was not examined in the driving literature previously, suggesting a …

Daily Use Of Protective Behavioral Strategies And Alcohol-Related Outcomes Among College Students, Matthew R. Pearson, Gabrielle M. D'Lima, Michelle L. Kelley

Psychology Faculty Publications

The purpose of the present study was to examine associations between use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) and alcohol-related outcomes (alcohol consumption, negative alcohol consequences, and positive alcohol consequences) using a daily diary approach. This approach is less affected by retrospective memory biases than typical self-reports of alcohol-related variables and allows the examination of both between-subjects and within-person effects. Using hierarchical linear modeling of data from 40 subjects who completed daily dairies for up to 15 days, we found significant within-person variation in PBS use over time, and each type of PBS had unique relationships with alcohol-related outcomes. For example, …

Predictive Effects Of Good Self-Control And Poor Regulation On Alcohol-Related Outcomes: Do Protective Behavioral Strategies Mediate?, Matthew R. Pearson, Benjamin A. Kite, James M. Henson

Psychology Faculty Publications

In the present study, we examined whether use of protective behavioral strategies mediated the relationship between self-control constructs and alcohol-related outcomes. According to the two-mode model of self-control, good self-control (planfulness; measured with Future Time Perspective, Problem Solving, and Self-Reinforcement) and poor regulation (impulsivity; measured with Present Time Perspective, Poor Delay of Gratification, Distractibility) are theorized to be relatively independent constructs rather than opposite ends of a single continuum. The analytic sample consisted of 278 college student drinkers (68% women) who responded to a battery of surveys at a single time point. Using a structural equation model based on the …

Unplanned Drinking And Alcohol-Related Problems: A Preliminary Test Of The Model Of Unplanned Drinking Behavior, Matthew R. Pearson, James M. Henson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Much research links impulsivity with alcohol use and problems. In 2 studies, unplanned (or impulsive) drinking is assessed directly to determine whether it has direct effects on alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. In Study 1, we examined whether unplanned drinking serves as a proximal mediator of the effects of impulsivity-like traits on alcohol-related outcomes. With a sample of 211 college student drinkers, we found that the Unplanned Drinking Scale was significantly related to alcohol use, and perhaps more important, had a direct effect on alcohol-related problems even after controlling for frequency and quantity of alcohol use. Furthermore, unplanned drinking partially …