Impact of the "peers as family" dormitory wing-based intervention on college student alcohol use and its secondhand effects.
An intervention to reduce college alcohol use and secondhand effects was tested. Freshmen dormitory wings at a large Mid-Atlantic public university were assigned to single-gender (SG) or mixed-gender (MG) Information-Motivation-Behavior (IMB) workshops implemented during the first weeks of school, or a control condition. Students were surveyed before school began and at 2- and 6-month follow-up. Analyses indicated that, among males, the adjusted mean weekly alcohol use was lower in the SG than the control condition (1.89 vs. 2.72, p = .041). Among females, the adjusted mean weekly alcohol use was lower in the MG than the SG (1.60 vs. 2.44, p = .021) and control condition (1.60 vs. 2.27, p = .056). Further research should identify underlying mechanisms for effective alcohol behavior change among male and female wing-mates.
Boekeloo
Bradley O
BO
Dept. of Public and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. boekeloo@umd.edu
Novik
Melinda G
MG
Bush
Elizabeth N
EN
O'Grady
Kevin E
KE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014495:Universities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*