Examining the unique influence of interpersonal and intrapersonal drinking perceptions on alcohol consumption among college students.
OBJECTIVE
Interventions for college student drinking often incorporate interpersonal factors such as descriptive and/or injunctive norms to correct misperceptions about campus drinking (e.g., BASICS [Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students] and social-norms campaigns). Some interventions also focus on intra-personal factors of alcohol consumption, which can be considered as one's own perception of drinking, one's attitude toward drinking, and one's intended outcome related to drinking. The current study sought to extend previous work by examining relationships between both inter- and intrapersonal perceptions of drinking and reported drinking behavior.


METHODS
College students (N=303) completed questionnaires assessing drinking behaviors, perceptions of other students' attitudes toward drinking (i.e., injunctive norms), their perception of the quantity and frequency of student/friend drinking (i.e., descriptive norms), and their attitudes and perceptions toward their own alcohol consumption (i.e., intrapersonal factors).


RESULTS
Multiple regressions were used to analyze the unique influence between inter- and intrapersonal drinking perceptions and drinking behavior.


CONCLUSIONS
Among the interpersonal perceptions of drinking, only closest friend's drinking significantly predicted alcohol consumption, whereas all three intrapersonal factors significantly predicted alcohol consumption. Suggestions for enhancing college student drinking interventions are discussed.
Mallett
Kimberly A
KA
Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, 204 East Calder Way, Suite 208, State College, Pennsylvania 16801, USA. kmallett@psu.edu
Bachrach
Rachel L
RL
Turrisi
Rob
R
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult