REPORT ON ALCOHOL AND DRUGS ON VIRGINIA COLLEGE CAMPUSES
MARCH 1993
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Governor's Task Force on Substance Abuse and Sexual Assault on College
Campuses recommended that the State Council of Higher Education conduct a survey
concerning the alcohol and other drug use of Virginia's college students.
Funding for the survey was received from the Governor's office using Drug Free
Schools and Communities monies. In consultation with the Council, the survey was
developed and administered by the University of Virginia's Institute for
Substance Abuse Studies in cooperation with the Center for Survey Research. The
following is an overview of the findings of the survey.
ALCOHOL: DRUG OF CHOICE
Alcohol is the drug of choice for Virginia's college students, with 77
percent reporting drinking in the 30 days prior to the survey. Most of these
students had experience with drinking prior to entering college, with 44
percent reporting beginning to drink regularly by age 16. Over half report
they had been drunk at least once by age 17. Current regular drinking was
reported by one-third of Virginia's students.
BINGE DRINKING
Virginia students report slightly less binge drinking (consuming five or
more drinks on one occasion) compared to a recent national survey of U.S.
college students. The national survey reported 42 percent of students binge
drinking in the two weeks prior to the survey, while 30 percent of
Virginia's college students report binge drinking. More students at four-
year institutions binge (37.8 percent) than students at two-year
institutions (20.1 percent).
BINGE DRINKING AND...
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE- Students who report binge drinking have significantly
lower grade point averages (GPA) than those who do not
drink. Sixty-two percent of students who engage in
binge drinking report a grade point average of 2.9 or
lower. Of that number, almost 21 percent report a GPA
of 2.0 or less. Twenty-two percent of students report
that alcohol use has caused them to miss class and 13
percent indicate that alcohol use has "hurt their
performance in school."
GENDER-More college men (41 percent) report binge drinking than college
women (21 percent). Men report binge drinking more frequently than
women, as well.
YEAR IN COLLEGE- Differences in the percentage of undergraduate students who
report binge drinking are not pronounced with 30.2 percent
of freshman, 29.1 percent of sophomores, 31.5 percent of
juniors, and 36.2 percent of seniors reporting binge
drinking.
RACE-Reports of binge drinking are greatest among Caucasian students, with
43.3 percent of males and 24.4 percent of females reporting binge
drinking in the past two weeks. Of the African-American students who
responded, 24.8 percent of males and 5.4 percent of females report
binge drinking. Of the Asian students who responded, 32 percent of
males, and 20 percent of females report binge drinking.
FRATERNITY & SORORITY MEMBERSHIP- Fraternity membership corresponds to
increased binge drinking, with 37.5
percent of men in fraternities reporting
binge drinking three or more times in the
past two weeks compared to 14.2 percent of
non-members. Women in sororities are 2.2
times more likely to have engaged in binge
drinking than non-sorority members.
RELATIONSHIP STATUS- Married students report fewest episodes of binge
drinking, while students who are dating more than one
person report the greatest number of episodes.
AGE- Overall, more traditional-age students (36.5 percent) report binge
drinking than non-traditional age students (16.6 percent).
VARSITY ATHLETES- Slightly more than 6 percent of the student respondents
were varsity athletes. Half of them (50.4 percent) report
binge drinking in the past two weeks.
PLACE OF RESIDENCE- Thirty-eight percent of students living on campus report
binge drinking versus 28 percent of students living off
campus.
NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF DRINKING
A host of negative consequences are related to alcohol use. Forty-two
percent of students report a lapse of memory due to heavy alcohol use.
Forty-eight percent report regretting some of their behavior while drinking.
Almost 28 percent of men and 24 percent of women believe that alcohol caused
them to engage in sexual activity when ordinarily they would not have.
Students also indicated that they believe drinking alcohol was related to
either taking advantage of someone sexually (6.6 percent), or having been
taken advantage of sexually (16.3 percent). Thirty-one percent of students
report they have driven unsafely and 58.2 percent report they have vomited
or been nauseated because of alcohol use.
OTHER DRUG USE
A recent national survey showed that 27 percent of students in U.S. colleges
reported marijuana use in the past year. In comparison, of Virginia's
students, 19.4 percent report smoking marijuana in the past year. Little
difference was reported in usage between traditional-age students and non-
traditional age students. The use of other drugs was reported by a small
percentage of Virginia's students: cocaine - 6.4 percent, LSD - 4.7 percent,
Ecstasy - 1.6 percent, crack - 1.5 percent, steroids - 1.1 percent, heroin
or methamphetamines - less than l percent.
PERCEPTION OF RISK
Students consider binge drinking only slightly more risky than drinking one
or two drinks a day. About 50 percent acknowledge a moderate to great risk
in playing drinking games.
STUDENT ATTITUDES ABOUT DRINKING VS. PERCEIVED CAMPUS NORMS
Answers to questions designed to assess students' attitudes about drinking
versus the perceived campus norms showed that many students believe their
personal attitude about drinking to be more conservative than the campus
norm in their setting. For example, 26 percent of students agreed with the
statement "Drinking is all right, but a student should never get smashed."
But, only 9.8 percent of the students agreed that the statement reflects the
general attitude on their campus.
HELPING A FRIEND
Virginia students report a willingness to help friends with alcohol or other
drug problems: 90.9 percent would try to convince a friend who was drunk not
to drive, 82.2 percent would take the keys from a drunk friend to prevent
him or her from driving, and 71 percent would confront a friend they thought
had a drug problem.