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In today’s college culture, more universities in the United States are confronted with the escalating societal problem of alcohol abuse. Some say college-aged alcohol consumption is a rite of passage, or a way of enjoying college life. Others say such behavior is a start of a life-long tragedy of addiction and destructiveness. The photographs in Requiem for A Drink were taken at the University of Iowa which capture the excessive profanity of disoriented intoxication, inhibition, and disregard for the environment. The stark scenes of the aftermath ultimately signify the morning after, a sunrise filled with nausea, hangovers, and regret. This photographic series provides the viewer with the images to answer this question: when does alcohol consumption transition from a pleasurable party scene to one of personal destructiveness?

Heavy drinking puts college students at risk for academic failure, alcohol use disorders, and even death. Although several interventions have proven moderately successful, overall rates of collegiate heavy drinking and consequences have significantly increased since 1998, as interventions may not adequately address underlying reasons for drinking. Research has consistently shown that college students who drink primarily to regulate emotions (i.e., internal drinking motives) are heavier drinkers, experience more consequences, and are likely to continue drinking heavily after college. Further, internal drinking motives are indicative of emotion dysregulation and associated personality traits. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is empirically supported and includes a group-based component designed to teach concrete behavioral emotion regulation, mindfulness, and distress tolerance skills. DBT skills training alone has been shown to reduce substance abuse and binge eating and is a promising, but untested, strategy for reducing collegiate alcohol abuse. The aims of the current study were threefold: (a) examine the efficacy of a DBT-based emotion regulation skills training (ERST) as an intervention for college student drinking, (b) examine theoretically-informed mechanisms of change (i.e., changes in mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance), and (c) examine intervention moderators (i.e., gender, readiness to change, and internal drinking motives). After completing pre-test measures, college students reporting two or more heavy drinking episodes during the past month were randomly assigned to an ERST or assessment-only control (AO) condition. ERST participants completed a single 3-hour group session of ERST within 7 days of completing pre-intervention measures and all participants completed two additional assessments. The current study found that ERST participants showed significantly greater reductions in heavy drinking and alcohol-related consequences relative to AO control participants. Contrary to hypotheses, intervention participation did not increase hypothesized mechanisms of change (i.e., mindfulness, emotion regulation, or distress tolerance) although emotion regulation and distress tolerance moderated intervention efficacy. Finally, ERST participation appeared to serve as a protective factor against heavy drinking and consequences for internally motivated drinkers. Overall findings provide preliminary support for the feasibility of ERST as a new intervention for reducing problematic drinking by college students and suggest future directions for mechanisms of change and moderation hypotheses. / text

abstract: Dangerous drinking on college campuses is a significant public health issue. Over the last decade, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have called on universities, community leaders, policymakers, parents and students to work together to develop effective, research based alcohol prevention and/or intervention programs. Despite such calls, parent-based prevention programs are relatively rare on college campuses, and there is a paucity of research on the ways in which parents influence their emerging adult children's drinking behaviors. The present project is designed to help address this need. Grounded in social cognitive theory, this exploratory study focuses on alcohol communication and poses numerous questions regarding the alcohol messages exchanged between college students and their parents, as well as how such messages associate with college students' dangerous drinking. Undergraduate students ages 18 to 25 who were enrolled in communication classes were recruited for the study and asked to recruit a parent. The sample included 198 students and 188 parents, all of whom completed an online survey. Results indicated the majority of college students have had alcohol conversations with a parent since the student graduated from high school. Parents viewed such conversations as significantly more open, direct, and ongoing than did students; though both generally agreed on the content of their alcohol communication, reporting an emphasis on the negative aspects of drinking, particularly the dangers of drinking and driving and the academic consequences of too much partying. Frequent discussions of drinking risks had significant, positive associations with students' dangerous drinking, whereas parents' reports of discussing rules about alcohol had a significant negative association with students' alcohol consumption. There were strong significant associations between the types alcohol topics discussed and students' perception that their parents approved of their drinking, as well as parents' actual approval. Perceived approval had a significant, positive association with students' dangerous drinking; however, actual parental approval was not a significant predictor of students' drinking outcomes. Parents' alcohol consumption had a significant positive association with students' alcohol consumption. Implications for parents, public health practitioners, and future research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication 2011

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Hooking up can carry a vast array of definitions, embody a multitude of implications, and is still somehow an almost unavoidable part of college life. The present study applies identity theory to the relatively new culture of sex and dating at college, more predominantly known as hookup culture, in order to examine the types of identities that might affect hookup behaviors. Identity theory is a particularly useful framework to understanding hookup culture because of its ability to examine how the individual (college student) situates oneself in the larger social environment (college). This study also incorporates commitment to identity as well as how certain meanings reflect that identity. Utilizing two waves of data from the "College Identity Study"—collected between 2015-2016 and surveying college students at a large, southeastern public university, aged 18-24 (n=187). Regression analyses were run in order to predict hookup behaviors using the partier identity, commitment to partier identity, and partier identity meanings. Ultimately, the model supports the hypothesis that college students who claim the partier identity are more likely to hook up, though commitment to this identity is low overall. / Master of Science / Hooking up can mean many different things to different people, but is still somehow an almost unavoidable part of college life. This paper looks at this relatively new culture of sex and dating on campus, also known as hookup culture, in order to better understand who is more likely to hook up. By using survey data from a “College Identity Study”—collected between 2015-2016 at a large, southeastern public university, from students aged 18-24—the study analyzes what kinds of college identities are most likely to engage in hooking up behaviors. Ultimately, the hypothesis that college students who claim the partier identity are more likely to hook up was supported, meaning there is a positive relationship between partying and hooking up.

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The effects of setting goals on goal commitment and goal achievement in the context of an alcohol use intervention were examined using an experimental design in which participants were randomly assigned to participatively-set goals, assigned goals, and no goal conditions. The current study provides information regarding the links between degree of participation in goal setting, goal commitment, self-efficacy for one's goal, subsequent alcohol use, and goal achievement. It was hypothesized that: 1) Goal setting and participation in goal setting would significantly predict alcohol use outcomes: a) having a goal for alcohol consumption would cause lower quantity and frequency of alcohol use relative to not having a goal; b) participation in goal setting, rather than being assigned a goal, would influence goal achievement such that participation in goal setting would cause greater success in achieving one's goal. 2) Participation in goal setting would influence goal commitment such that participation in goal setting would cause greater goal commitment. 3) Goal commitment would influence goal achievement such that greater goal commitment would be predictive of greater success in achieving one's goal. 4) The facilitative effect of participation in goal setting on subsequent goal achievement would be mediated by goal commitment. 5) Self-efficacy for one's goal would influence goal achievement such that greater self-efficacy for one's goal would be predictive of greater success in achieving one's goal. One hundred and twenty-six binge-drinking college students received a single cognitive-behavioral assessment/intervention session and completed measures of goal commitment, self-efficacy for goal achievement, and alcohol use. Results were consistent with, and expanded upon, previous research by demonstrating that having a goal for alcohol consumption was predictive of lower quantity and frequency of alcohol use relative to not having a goal; however, participation in goal setting did not result in significantly better alcohol use outcomes or greater goal achievement relative to when goals were assigned. Participation in goal setting yielded greater goal commitment and self-efficacy for goal achievement than assigned goals. Lastly, goal commitment and self-efficacy contributed unique variance to the prediction of goal achievement across follow-up as well as changes in quantity and frequency of alcohol use at follow-up after controlling for baseline use. / Ph. D.

Peer crowd affiliation (PCA) has been linked to alcohol use in adolescents, with patterns varying by crowd. However, a comprehensive examination of how peers influence college students’ behaviors, especially with regards to PCA, is lacking. The current study seeks to replicate and extend findings from Barber, Eccles, and Stone (2001) by examining whether high school PCA is associated with average weekly drinking and problematic drinking in a sample of college freshman, including friends’ drinking as a potential mediator and susceptibility to peer influence as a potential moderator. As existing research has found that close friends’ drinking predicts own drinking, peer influence may be the mechanism by which PCA is associated with alcohol use and problems in college. College students (N = 490) completed questionnaires assessing high school PCA, problematic drinking, and alcohol use habits among 3 close college friends, as well as a life history calendar of alcohol use. Hypotheses were tested using Preacher & Hayes bootstrapping mediation approach and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results indicated positive associations between affiliation with Popular or Jock crowds and weekly and problematic drinking in college, and negative associations for affiliation with the Brain crowd. Support for mediation by friends’ alcohol use was found.

The prevalence of Alcohol Use Disorders is rapidly increasing among college students. The use of real time monitoring in conjunction with contingency management procedures to reduce alcohol consumption has only recently been developed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to learn more about natural patterns of alcohol consumption in college-aged adults. A second goal was to evaluate a novel, handheld technology for obtaining reliable samples over extended time periods. College students were given a SoberLinkTM SL2 breathalyzer for eight weeks to monitor their drinking behaviors and asked to self-report the number of drinks consumed each day. Participants received one to three text messages per day to provide breath samples and earned monetary rewards for submitting samples within the allotted time. The results of this study showed that college students tend to consume alcohol during the evening hours and mostly on the weekends. There was a weak to medium correlation between average breath alcohol concentration and conditional average drinks. Compliance with prompts ranged between 77 and 84 percent and monetary earnings ranged between $152 and $160. Naturalistic observations of college drinking may aid in the development of interventions to prevent excessive drinking and the SL2 breathalyzer may have great potential to be used in a number of therapeutic approaches.