Factors associated with reductions in alcohol use between high school and college: an analysis of data from the College Alcohol Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Descriptive results by alcohol consumption statusa

	Cut back		Did not cut back		P-value
	Proportionb	Standard error	Proportionb	Standard error
Demographic and parental
Female	60.3	1.7	53.2	0.9	0.000
Male	39.7	0.9	46.8	1.7	0.000
White	71.0	1.6	82.2	0.7	0.000
Asian	8.3	1.0	5.0	0.5	0.002
Hispanic	8.6	1.0	6.6	0.5	0.074
Black	8.7	1.0	3.3	0.3	0.000
Other race	3.4	0.7	3.0	0.3	0.561
Not religious	14.2	1.1	12.9	0.6	0.317
Catholic	39.2	1.6	44.8	0.8	0.002
Protestant	34.2	1.5	29.7	0.8	0.008
Other religion	12.3	1.1	12.5	0.6	0.837
Mom light drinker	53.1	1.6	57.5	0.8	0.012
Mom moderate drinker	7.6	0.9	11.4	0.5	0.000
Mom heavy drinker	2.3	0.4	3.3	0.3	0.049
Dad light drinker	44.0	1.6	46.0	0.8	0.279
Dad moderate drinker	20.5	1.3	25.5	0.7	0.001
Dad heavy drinker	12.4	1.1	12.3	0.6	0.984
Parents did not approve of alcohol	37.4	1.6	31.0	0.8	0.000
Mom no college	36.6	1.5	29.1	0.8	0.010
Dad no college	33.9	1.5	23.4	0.7	0.000
Other substances and consequences of others’ use
Never smoked cigarettes	42.6	1.6	29.2	0.8	0.000
Smoked cigarettes past 30 days	24.5	1.4	47.2	0.8	0.000
Never smoked marijuana	56.3	1.6	36.0	0.8	0.000
Smoked marijuana past 30 days	12.0	1.1	33.5	0.8	0.000
Never used cocaine (not crack)	97.9	0.4	92.6	0.5	0.000
Used cocaine (not crack) past 30 days	0.3	0.2	1.6	0.2	0.000
Assaulted due to others’ drinking	10.9	1.0	20.1	0.7	0.000
Argument due to others’ drinking	20.9	1.3	37.6	0.8	0.000
Social environment
Have fewer than 3 good friends	23.4	1.4	13.3	0.6	0.000
Have 3 or 4 good friends	32.7	1.6	26.2	0.7	0.000
Have 5 or more good friends	43.7	1.6	60.2	0.8	0.000
Know a faculty member could talk to	53.4	1.6	51.2	0.8	0.225
Greek	5.3	0.7	18.1	0.6	0.000
Multiple sexual partners past 30 days	11.7	1.1	13.1	0.6	0.278
Hours of social activities	2.9	0.05	3.4	0.02	0.000
Parties (very) important	27.0	1.5	62.5	0.8	0.000
Fraternity/sorority life (very) important	7.4	0.9	20.9	0.7	0.000
Single sex dorm	23.7	1.4	21.2	0.7	0.099
Coed dorm	39.4	1.6	56.8	0.8	0.000
On campus – other housing	16.7	1.3	10.3	0.5	0.000
Off campus not with parents	4.8	1.2	4.3	0.5	0.589
Off campus with parents	15.1	0.8	7.4	0.3	0.000
Student activities
Academic work (very) important	97.0	0.4	97.2	0.3	0.199
Religious activities (very) important	43.6	1.6	34.4	0.8	0.000
Arts (very) important	21.4	1.3	22.2	0.7	0.620
Political activism (very) important	16.1	1.2	16.0	0.6	0.943
Community service (very) important	38.8	1.6	33.3	0.8	0.002
Hours of studying	2.8	0.05	2.7	0.02	0.286
Hours of work	2.1	0.07	1.4	0.03	0.000
Hours of television	2.1	0.05	2.0	0.03	0.033
Hours of working with organizations	0.6	0.03	0.7	0.02	0.000
Hours of physical activity	1.1	0.04	1.3	0.02	0.000
Hours of volunteer work	0.3	0.03	0.3	0.01	0.156
Policies
Believe legal drinking age should be <21 years	85.3	1.5	66.5	0.6	0.000
Have you received information on:
Where to get help with alcohol problems	65.2	1.6	72.8	0.8	0.000
Long-term effects of alcohol	47.5	1.6	52.0	0.8	0.014
Dangers of alcohol	53.8	1.6	61.1	0.8	0.000
How to recognize problems	45.3	1.6	52.6	0.8	0.000
Have you received information through:
Lectures	25.6	1.5	28.3	0.8	0.105
Mailings	43.8	1.6	50.5	0.8	0.000
Posters	70.6	1.5	80.7	0.7	0.000
Newspapers	55.6	1.6	63.0	0.8	0.000
Classes	9.4	1.0	8.8	0.5	0.612
Number of observations	1,101		4,005

Notes:

a Authors’ calculations from the 1993, 1997, 1999, and 2001 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study. Observations are weighted by the sampling weights provided in the surveys. “P-value” is the P-value for a hypothesis test that the average for students to reduce consumption is equal to the average for students who do not reduce consumption

b All variables are proportions except for those that measure time spent on various activities, which are measured in hours.

Table 2 Adjusted logistic regression of reduced alcohol consumption: background variablesa

Variable	Adjusted odds ratio	95% confidence interval	P-value
Male	0.730	0.624–0.852	0.000
Asian	1.800	1.288–2.516	0.001
Hispanic	1.517	1.110–2.073	0.009
Non-Hispanic black	2.777	1.974–3.907	0.000
Non-Hispanic other race	1.244	0.780–1.983	0.359
Catholic	0.769	0.604–0.978	0.032
Protestant	0.963	0.754–1.231	0.766
Other religion	0.743	0.548–1.006	0.055
Mom light drinker	0.847	0.707–1.014	0.071
Mom moderate drinker	0.643	0.474–0.873	0.005
Mom heavy drinker	0.619	0.389–0.984	0.042
Dad light drinker	0.854	0.690–1.058	0.148
Dad moderate drinker	0.741	0.577–0.952	0.019
Dad heavy drinker	0.762	0.577–1.007	0.056
Parents do not approve of alcohol	1.164	0.990–1.367	0.066
Mom no college	1.056	0.893–1.247	0.525
Dad no college	1.551	1.305–1.843	0.000
F-statistic – background variables	7.09		0.000

Note:

a Dependent variable is equal to 1 if the student reduces alcohol consumption and 0 otherwise. n=5,106. Sampling weights are used in the analysis. The base categories for the discrete variables are female, white non-Hispanic, not religious, mom does not drink, dad does not drink, parents approved of at least some alcohol use, mom at least attended college, and dad at least attended college. The model also includes year indicators for 1997, 1999, and 2001.

Table 3 Adjusted logistic regression of reduced alcohol consumption: other substances and consequences of others’ alcohol usea

Variable	Adjusted odds ratio	95% confidence interval	P-value
Never smoked cigarettes	0.923	0.764–1.115	0.405
Smoked cigarettes past 30 days	0.485	0.397–0.593	0.000
Never smoked marijuana	1.219	1.018–1.461	0.032
Smoked marijuana past 30 days	0.450	0.353–0.572	0.000
Never used cocaine (not crack)	1.676	1.005–2.796	0.048
Used cocaine (not crack) past 30 days	0.723	0.192–2.729	0.632
Assaulted due to others’ drinking	0.763	0.601–0.968	0.026
Argument due to others’ drinking	0.572	0.475–0.689	0.000
F-statistic – substance use variables	63.74		0.000
F-statistic – background variables	5.93		0.000

Note:

a Dependent variable is equal to 1 if the student reduces alcohol consumption and 0 otherwise. n=5,106. Sampling weights are used in the analysis. All variables from Table 2 are included. The base categories for the discrete variables are smoked cigarettes but not in past 30 days, smoked marijuana but not in past 30 days, used cocaine but not in past 30 days, was not assaulted due to others’ drinking, and was not in an argument due to others’ drinking.

Table 6 Adjusted logistic regression of reduced alcohol consumption: policies – policy variablesa

Variable	Adjusted odds ratio	95% confidence interval	P-value
Policies
Believe legal drinking age should be <21 years	0.506	0.419–0.612	0.000
Have you received information on:
Where to get help with alcohol problems	0.903	0.728–1.121	0.356
Long-term effects of alcohol	1.089	0.847–1.401	0.507
Dangers of alcohol	0.945	0.722–1.239	0.684
How to recognize problems	0.928	0.735–1.172	0.530
Have you received information through:
Lectures	1.039	0.845–1.277	0.717
Mailings	1.021	0.845–1.234	0.828
Posters	0.758	0.613–0.937	0.010
Newspapers	0.880	0.733–1.056	0.169
Classes	1.285	0.951–1.735	0.103
F-statistic – policy variables	13.38		0.000
F-statistic – student activity variables	1.89		0.036
F-statistic – social variables	55.27		0.000
F-statistic – substance use variables	30.56		0.000
F-statistic – background variables	3.32		0.000

Note:

a Dependent variable is equal to 1 if the student reduces alcohol consumption and 0 otherwise. n=5,106. Sampling weights are used in the analysis. All variables from Tables 2, 3, 4, and 5 are included. The base categories for the discrete variables are: believe the legal drinking age should be at least 21 years; have not received information on where to get help with problems, long-term effects of problems, the dangers of alcohol, or how to recognize problems; and have not received information through lectures, mailings, posters, newspapers, or classes.

Table 4 Adjusted logistic regression of reduced alcohol consumption: social environmenta

Variable	Adjusted odds ratio	95% confidence interval	P-value
Have 3 or 4 good friends	0.893	0.703–1.135	0.355
Have 5 or more good friends	0.658	0.525–0.824	0.000
Know a faculty member could talk to	1.164	0.985–1.375	0.075
Member of fraternity or sorority	0.462	0.297–0.718	0.001
Multiple sexual partners past 30 days	1.011	0.772–1.325	0.935
Hours of social activities	0.656	0.834–0.937	0.000
Parties (very) important	0.331	0.278–0.394	0.000
Fraternity/sorority life (very) important	0.696	0.463–1.045	0.081
Coed dorm	0.656	0.535–0.804	0.000
On campus – other housing	0.971	0.623–1.514	0.897
Off campus not with parents	1.319	0.968–1.798	0.080
Off campus with parents	1.288	0.968–1.713	0.082
F-statistic – social variables	75.31		0.000
F-statistic – substance use variables	34.86		0.000
F-statistic – background variables	4.02		0.000

Note:

a Dependent variable is equal to 1 if the student reduces alcohol consumption and 0 otherwise. n=5,106. Sampling weights are used in the analysis. All variables from Tables 2 and 3 are included. The base categories for the discrete variables are have no to two good friends, do not know a faculty member could talk to about problems, not a member of fraternity or sorority, did not have multiple sexual partners in past 30 days, parties not important, fraternity or sorority life not important, and single sex dorm.

Table 5 Adjusted logistic regression of reduced alcohol consumption: student activitiesa

Variable	Adjusted odds ratio	95% confidence interval	P-value
Academic work (very) important	1.339	0.714–2.513	0.363
Religious activities (very) important	1.123	0.937–1.346	0.209
Arts (very) important	1.179	0.962–1.446	0.113
Political activism (very) important	1.045	0.827–1.321	0.710
Community service (very) important	1.281	1.058–1.552	0.011
Hours of studying	0.987	0.925–1.053	0.686
Hours of work	1.058	1.012–1.107	0.013
Hours of television	1.054	0.992–1.121	0.091
Hours of working with organizations	0.932	0.851–1.020	0.124
Hours of physical activity	0.968	0.895–1.048	0.424
Hours of volunteer work	1.073	0.962–1.197	0.204
F-statistic – student activity variables	1.90		0.034
F-statistic – social variables	70.19		0.000
F-statistic – substance use variables	33.10		0.000
F-statistic – background variables	3.69		0.000

Note:

a Dependent variable is equal to 1 if the student reduces alcohol consumption and 0 otherwise. n=5,106. Sampling weights are used in the analysis. All variables from Tables 2, 3, and 4 are included. The base categories for the discrete variables are having no to two good friends, do not know a faculty member could talk to about problems, not a member of fraternity or sorority, did not have multiple sexual partners in past 30 days, parties not important, fraternity or sorority life not important, and single sex dorm.

Figure 1 Estimated effects of parental characteristics.

Figure 2 Estimated effects of sex, Greek affiliation, and the importance of parties.

Notes: Greek indicates membership in a social fraternity or sorority and belief that participation in Greek life is important or very important. Party indicates the belief that participation in parties is important or very important.