The Alcohol and Polysubstance Behaviors of Mandated College Students Prior to Collegiate Sporting Events: An Assessment of Pregaming

Abstract

Background: Despite a litany of education and prevention efforts seeking to curtail alcohol and other drug (AOD) use behaviors of United States (U.S.) college students, AOD use remains pervasive among the American college student population. Socio-cultural reinforcement of AOD behaviors, such as pregaming (PG), are often considered normative aspects of the collegiate experience, potentially introducing, and/or exacerbating, AOD use among U.S. college students. Objective: Due to the unique relationship PG has with the U.S. college experience and sports culture, this study explored the relationship between PG prior to a live sporting event and frequency of alcohol use, and the likelihood of persons who pregame also engaging in polysubstance use (>1 substance during drinking/use event). Methods: This study was conducted with college students (n = 816) attending a large public university in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) who violated campus alcohol use policies. Results: Beyond the influence of important demographic covariates, PG (p < .001) was significantly associated with a greater frequency of alcohol use. Moreover, students who participated in PG festivities were nearly 2.5 times more likely to participate in polysubstance use. Discussion: PG prior to live collegiate sporting events has clear public health and policy implications. Future efforts should institute and enforce risk-management policies on college campuses and employ event-specific alcohol and polysubstance use prevention and intervention strategies.

Keywords:

• Alcohol use
• polysubstance use
• pregaming
• policy
• prevention
• intervention

Authors contributions

Benjamin N. Montemayor: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, and writing of original draft. Jessica R. Murfree: writing of original draft, review, and editing of writing. Anas K. Nabil: writing of original draft. Adam E. Barry: conceptualization, review, and editing of writing.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.