Variability in Pregaming Typologies Across the Freshman Year: A Multi-wave Latent Transition Analysis

ABSTRACT

Background: Though research is rapidly expanding on pregaming and related risks, studies have not yet identified discrete subtypes of college pregamers or modeled how class membership changes across critical times like college entry. Objectives: Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) identified classes of pregaming behaviors in entering college students and described transitions in latent statuses across the freshman year. Methods: Students with prior alcohol use (N = 711; 51.3% female; 63% White; M_age = 18) were surveyed at orientation and re-assessed at three follow-ups (Fall, Winter, and Spring). Items assessed overall drinking (past 30-day, number of binge episodes), pregaming (typical quantity, normativity relative to overall use, estimated pregaming BAC, drinks consumed post-pregaming event), and problems (overall and pregaming-specific). Results: LTA modeling yielded three distinct classes of pregaming membership (Low, Medium and High) that varied as a function of both overall use and pregaming practices. Evaluation of changes over the year indicated the greatest movement occurred immediately upon college entry, with significantly less movement was seen across the remainder of the year. Cross-class comparisons across all four time points showed clear differences in alcohol-related problems (overall as well as pregaming-specific), with students in the High class reporting markedly higher levels of problems on all domains. Conclusions/Importance: Overall, there appears to be considerable heterogeneity in pregaming behaviors, across both students and time that are directly related to differential levels of problems. Findings highlight the need to screen students early for risky drinking practices, including pregaming, and include pregaming-specific material in their campus screening and intervention programming.

KEYWORDS:

• Pregaming; latent transition analysis; college student; alcohol use

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Elise Neudeck, Christina La Salvia, Shelby Smith, Sergio Flores and Nick Welter for their assistance with study recruitment and data entry.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

This research was supported in part by Grant Q184H090105 from the U.S. Department of Education.

Notes

1 A 3-class LTA model was also specified with Greek status and gender as covariates predicting initial class membership, as well as class transitions, however, this model failed to converge. To reduce computational burden, the model was simplified to a conditional 3-class LPA using Baseline, which exhibited similar class profiles to the unconditional model. Analyses revealed that members of Greek organizations, and male students were more likely to belong to the Moderate or High classes at baseline.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amie L. Haas

Amie L. Haas, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology at Palo Alto University. Her research program evaluates high risk drinking and substance use practices during the transition from high school to college and seeks to identify critical periods for the escalation of use and increases in negative consequences. She is particularly interested in risky drinking styles that contribute to problem use, including pregaming, and measurement issues related to identification of problematic use in college students.

Robert E. Wickham

Robert E. Wickham, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology at Palo Alto University. His research focuses on interpersonal perception, interpersonal conflict, and psychological authenticity, as well as applied statistical approaches for dyadic and longitudinal designs. He is also interested in measurement development and modeling of substance use, internet behavior, and self-esteem.

Elise Gibbs

Elise Gibbs, M.S., is a doctoral candidate in the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium at Palo Alto University. She has worked at Stanford University in the Office of Alcohol Policy and Education since 2013. Her research interests include the role of anxiety and eating disorders in high risk drinking among college students.