Elsevier

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 27, Issue 3, May–June 2002, Pages 393-404
Addictive Behaviors

College student heavy drinking in social contexts versus alone

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4603(01)00180-0Get rights and content

Abstract

Heavy drinking is common among college students and typically occurs in social contexts. Heavy drinking when alone, however, is less common. The present study hypothesized that students who drink heavily when alone (HD-Alone) would differ from college students who only drink heavily in social contexts (Social HD). Forty-nine HD-Alone students (at least one heavy-drinking episode when alone), 213 Social HDs, and 63 non-heavy drinkers (Non-HDs) were compared on alcohol-related consequences, drinking milestones, alcohol-outcome expectancies, and symptoms of depression. HD-Alone students reported more negative drinking consequences, earlier onset of regular drinking, more alcohol expectancies, less self-efficacy and motivation to reduce drinking, and higher depression scores than Social HDs and Non-HDs. Findings imply individual differences among heavy-drinking college students according to their drinking context.

Introduction

College students drink predominantly in social contexts, such as at parties, fraternity and sorority gatherings, and among family, friends, and members of the opposite sex Cashin et al., 1998, O'Hare, 1990, Wechsler et al., 1995. Social aspects of a drinking context, such as anticipated social facilitation from drinking and modeling of drinking by others, can influence collegiate alcohol consumption. For example, college students consumed more alcohol when a confederate modeled heavy consumption than when a confederate modeled light consumption (Collins, Park, & Marlatt, 1985). Belief that alcohol use enhances social functioning predicted how much alcohol a student consumed Leigh & Stacy, 1993, Smith et al., 1995, Vik et al., 1999. Similarly, individuals who drank heavily and experienced problems related to alcohol use reported drinking in a wider variety of social contexts than those who drank less heavily and denied alcohol-related consequences (Holyfield, Ducharme, & Martin, 1995). Other evidence reveals that college students considered getting drunk as an appropriate behavior in social contexts such as at parties, concerts, and on dates (Wechsler & Isaac, 1992). Hence, perceptions of drinking as socially normative, belief that alcohol is a social lubricant, and characteristics of a social drinking context can influence alcohol consumption by students.

Despite the predominant social influence on collegiate heavy drinking, O'Hare (1990) estimated that 15% of college students drink when alone, and Wechsler and Isaac (1992) reported that a small percentage of female (5%) and male (7%) heavy drinkers regarded drinking alone at home an appropriate situation in which to get drunk. In a household sample of males aged 20–50 years, 21% were classified as solitary drinkers (Neff, 1997), when solitary drinkers were identified by a response of “very often” to the questions “How often do you drink at home?” and “How often do you drink alone?” Because college drinking occurs predominantly in social circumstances, students who drink heavily when alone may exhibit an unusual or atypical pattern of college drinking.

Students may drink heavily when alone for a variety of reasons. Solitary heavy drinkers might hold different alcohol outcome and self-efficacy expectancies, experience more negative consequences from drinking, report more depressive symptoms, and recognize a greater need to reduce drinking than students who restrict heavy drinking to social settings. For example, a student who drinks heavily when alone might use alcohol to cope with stress. Indeed, Holyfield et al. (1995) found that individuals who drink for Personal Coping effects were more likely to drink heavily than those who did not drink for these effects. Motivation to drink for Personal Coping may increase the likelihood that an individual will drink heavily even in the absence of social influences. Solitary drinking might also reflect a loss of control over drinking (e.g., a student is unable to limit alcohol use to social contexts).

The present study is an effort to distinguish individual differences in collegiate heavy drinkers based on the interpersonal context of drinking. The primary hypothesis is that heavy drinking when alone reflects more severe drinking than heavy drinking only in social contexts. This study examined the effects of drinking context on four groups of variables commonly associated with drinking severity: current drinking, drinking history, psychological factors (alcohol expectancies, self-efficacy, motivation to reduce drinking, depressive symptoms), and alcohol-related consequences. Evidence suggests that problem drinkers began drinking at younger ages than non-problem drinkers (Gruber, DiClemente, Anderson, & Lodico, 1996). Problem drinkers also anticipate that alcohol will reduce aversive emotional states to a greater extent than non-problem drinkers Holyfield et al., 1995, Reese et al., 1994. Finally, problem drinking among college students is associated with lower self-efficacy and higher depressive symptoms than non-problem drinking Camatta & Nagoshi, 1995, Lee & Oei, 1993, Vik et al., 2000.

Two groups of heavy-drinking college students were identified for the current study. One group included students who reported heavy drinking when alone, and a second group included students who only drink heavily in social contexts. A third group of college student drinkers who denied heavy drinking during the previous 3 months was included in this study as a comparison control group.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were drawn from a sample of 424 undergraduate psychology students who were under age 30. Data were collected at two state universities, one in the northwestern region (N=270) and the other in the midwestern region (N=154) of the United States. The sample included mostly women (N=293; 69.1%) and Caucasians (N=394; 92.9%). The mean age was 20.1 (S.D.=2.41) years. Students lived in the dormitories (N=151; 35.6%), with a spouse (N=67; 15.8%), with roommates (N=94; 22.2%), with parents (

Drinking milestones

HD-Alone students were compared with Social HDs and Non-HDs on drinking milestones. Results are presented in Table 1. Groups differed in the age when they first tried alcohol [F(2,321)=7.01, P≤.001], age when they began drinking regularly (at least once a week) [F(2,181)=4.01, P=.02], and age the first time they became intoxicated [F(2,295)=6.01, P=.003]. Post hoc analyses revealed that for all variables, the HD-Alone students, on average, evidenced earlier drinking milestones than the other

Discussion

Results of this study support the conceptualization of heavy drinking when alone as an atypical behavior and a risk indicator among college students. Only 15% of the students who drank in the past 3 months had ever drunk heavily when alone, and fewer than one out of five (18.7%) heavy drinkers admitted heavy drinking either while alone or when no one else present was drinking. Students who drink heavily when alone consumed more alcohol, experienced more alcohol-related problems, and progressed

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