Recommended Reading

NOVEMBER 2010

“Perceived Norms for Drinking in the Transition From High School to College and Beyond”

Introduction and Summary of Methods

From years of research, we know that college students tend to overestimate drinking by their peers and that heavier drinking in college is more likely when the misperception of social-group drinking is greater. There is also support that drinking norms in high school can predict what social groups students may become a part of in college, which impacts individual drinking behaviors.

This study examined gender and ethnic differences in the relationship between precollege perceived norms and collegiate alcohol use. In other words, are there differences in the ways males, females, whites, Hispanics, Asians, etc. perceive drinking in college? And, does that make a difference in their selection of friends, ultimately affecting their own drinking behavior? To address these questions, researchers analyzed longitudinal data from incoming freshmen at a large public Southwestern university, using measures of demographics, alcohol use, and descriptive norms.

Key Findings

Overall, researchers found that perceptions of typical-college-student drinking during high school predicted freshman-year drinking for males but not for females, and for white students, but not for Asians or Hispanics. Regarding group norms, high school norms predicted freshman drinking for whites but not for other ethnicities, and freshman year norms predicted drinking in their sophomore year for all ethnicities.

Implications for Prevention Practice

This study reaffirms that the transition from high school to college is a critical time in a student’s life when it comes to establishing drinking behaviors. It also brings to light the importance of targeting prevention and intervention programs to individuals, both before and after matriculation.  In particular, prevention professionals must focus on correcting students’ misperceptions about their peer drinking behaviors through social norms marketing campaigns and other educational efforts.  For White male students, it is especially important to deliver these messages prior to matriculation and to focus on clarification of drinking behaviors among “typical” college students, while messages aimed at Asians, Hispanic and female students should target misperceptions around alcohol consumption of social-group members, particularly after college matriculation.

Bibliographic Reference

Stappenback, C.A., Quinn, P.D., Wetherill, R.R., & Fromme, K. (2010). Perceived norms for drinking in the transition from high school to college and beyond. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 71, 895-903.

Access to Article

Interested in reading the entire article? You can purchase the article through the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, or download for free if you have a subscription. link to article