Do college students drink more than their non-college-attending peers? Evidence from a population-based longitudinal female twin study.
The association of college attendance with alcohol use and alcohol use disorders was examined in a population-based young adult female twin sample identified from a systematic search of birth records. College-attending women consumed a larger overall volume of alcohol than did their non-college-attending peers, but they were not more likely to be diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder. Significant associations between college attendance and alcohol involvement were probed using 3 different complementary research designs: multivariate cross-sectional analyses, longitudinal analyses of the precollege and college years, and cotwin-control analyses of twin pairs discordant for attending college. Although demographic and lifestyle characteristics accounted for most or all of the association between college attendance and alcohol involvement, there was 1 aspect of drinking behavior, occasionally consuming large quantities of alcohol, that remained significantly associated with college attendance even after controlling for these characteristics or for genetic and family background factors. These results are consistent with the conclusion that some aspect of the college experience may be an important environmental risk factor for this pattern of drinking among young adults.
Slutske
Wendy S
WS
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, 210 McAlester Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. slutskew@missouri.edu
Hunt-Carter
Erin E
EE
Nabors-Oberg
Rachel E
RE
Sher
Kenneth J
KJ
Bucholz
Kathleen K
KK
Madden
Pamela A F
PA
Anokhin
Andrey
A
Heath
Andrew C
AC
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D010379:Peer Group; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014427:Twins; D014495:Universities