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By Carol Flaherty
September 6, 2006
Nationwide, college students report increased drinking when they go to college.
"It's called 'the college effect,'" says Montana State University's Jenny Haubenreiser, who runs the Health Promotion office at MSU and its online alcohol education program for incoming freshmen.
That "college effect" was documented in a large 2002 study published in the Journal of Studies of Alcohol. The study showed that before college, college-bound students drank less than their peers. Once they are in college, however, their drinking surpasses that of non-college students.
Haubenreiser citied another study from a company called "Outside the Classroom," which surveyed thousands of students in the summer and fall of 2004. Survey data showed that drinking increased between 80 percent and 400 percent over that time. In addition, 20 percent of the college students in this nation-wide survey reported drinking to the point of blacking out in the first few weeks after entering college.
"The question is how can we change the culture of drinking," Haubenreiser said.
MSU's approach is to implement an alcohol education program called AlcoholEdu. The cost, about $25,000 for a school the size of MSU, so far has been paid for by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
"There is no single strategy that will resolve the problem of high-risk drinking on campus," she said. "AlcoholEdu works with other strategies, like providing alternative activities and enforcing community and campus policies that help create an environment conducive to student learning, health and safety." Alcohol is not allowed in the residence hall rooms of underage students. Montana law requires individuals to be at least 21 years old to consume alcoholic beverages.
One popular intervention is an MSU program called "Cat Cab," which provides free rides home for students who call when they have been drinking. The program, which is largely funded by ASMSU and operated by All Valley Cab, has become so popular that it regularly hits its capacity limit. "There are simply not enough cabs in Bozeman," Haubenreiser said. "But the program has been a great success. We don't know how many lives it has saved, but we know that last year 5,206 students got a safe ride home and didn't drive."
By its use, Cat Cab would seem to be very well received. However, the requirement that all MSU freshmen complete AlcoholEdu generated some student grumbling in 2005, its first year of implementation, she said.
"We got calls saying, 'I don't drink. Why should I take this?'" Haubenreiser said. Her answer is that the program is not just for drinkers. It is also intended to inform students of the laws and consequences of harmful drinking, and to show them ways to respond when with others who are drinking.
"It's better than lecturing them," she said. "Telling them to stop drinking isn't going to work, but, if we can show them how to reduce the harm associated with high risk drinking and help them learn ways to avoid problems, then we may make more headway."
"Frequently, requirements aren't popular with students," she said. "English composition and student immunizations aren't necessarily popular, but they're still required. So is taking this program. This provides information to all incoming students in a way that has been proven to be effective in reducing risk."
AlcoholEdu is a national program used by about 500 colleges and universities. Haubenreiser says independent analysis found small, consistently positive effects over a large number of students.
"We wouldn't trust the results from a four-hour course if we saw huge changes in behavior," she said. "That just doesn't happen. The goal with this and everything else we do is to increase the student's skills in dealing with alcohol, while working to change the 'culture of alcohol' national studies cite. Over a number of years, we hope to substantially increase the number of students who are motivated to consume alcohol in a safer way, if at all."
MSU students who completed the program last year reported increased awareness of problems associated with drinking and said they better understood blood alcohol levels, how heavy episodic drinking relates to sexual aggression, injuries and poor academic performance. After taking the program, more students reported that they were willing to consider safer drinking strategies.
They also reported being more positive about AlcoholEdu after taking the course than before.
This year, about 1,800 freshman students start the program Sept. 12 by taking an online survey. They work at their own pace, reviewing information, taking surveys and an exam. Then they have a 30-day break before completing a final section and another survey by Dec. 1. The program takes three-to-four-hours over the semester.
Students' answers are strictly confidential -- no one at MSU has access to any individual responses, Haubenreiser said.
Parents of students are also invited to complete the program.
"Parents play a crucial role," Haubenreiser said. "MSU students rank their parents as both frequent and credible sources of health information. This provides parents with the same information the students receive and helps facilitate conversations about substance use."
The program is open to anyone who is interested. For more information about AlcoholEdu, call 994-5497.
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