The role of monthly spending money in college student drinking behaviors and their consequences.
OBJECTIVE
Alcohol use among college students is pervasive and affected by economic factors such as personal income and alcohol price. The authors examined the relationship among students' spending money, drinking rate, and alcohol-related consequences.


METHODS
In 2005, the authors conducted a Web-based survey among a random sample of 3,634 undergraduate students from 2 large universities.


METHODS
The authors used multiple logistic regression to model drinking behaviors and multiple linear regression to model alcohol-related consequences.


RESULTS
The lowest reported levels of average monthly spending money were associated with reduced levels of drinking and getting drunk. Spending money was independently associated with experiencing alcohol-related consequences caused by a student's own drinking, even after the authors controlled for personal drinking behaviors. The effects for consequences caused by others' drinking were significant for students who had gotten drunk.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings have implications for alcohol price and marketing, particularly around colleges, and suggest actions for parents to consider.
The Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. bamartin@wfubmc.edu
Barbara Alvarez
BA
Martin
Thomas P
TP
McCoy
Heather
H
Champion
Maria T
MT
Parries
Robert H
RH
Durant
Ananda
A
Mitra
Scott D
SD
Rhodes
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000191:economics*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000191:economics; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000191:economics; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011640:Public Policy; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D014754:Violence