College Students and Alcohol: Consumption, Perceptions, and Administrators' Prevention Efforts

Abstract

This study examined students (n = 496) to determine their alcohol consumption per week, their perceptions regarding their peers' consumption, and their perceptions regarding the effectiveness of administrators' efforts to clarify misperceptions. Overall, students reported drinking 3.57 drinks per week. Male students reported drinking 4.09 drinks per week and female students reported drinking 2.89 drinks per week. Students inaccurately perceived the number of drinks their peers consumed per occasion. Students perceived that the typical male student consumed 6.89 drinks and the typical female student consumed 4.48 drinks per occasion. Students did not perceive administrators' efforts to clarify students' misperceptions to be effective. However, the results indicate efforts to clarify students' misperceptions are defensible.