Changing the Perception of the Norm: A Strategy to Decrease Binge Drinking among College Students
- 1 November 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of American College Health
- Vol. 45 (3) , 134-140
- https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.1996.9936873
Abstract
A reduction in college students' binge drinking associated with an intervention to change perceptions of drinking norms is described. The 5-year study was conducted at a public residential campus of 23,000 students. A traditional intervention proved unsuccessful, but a media campaign designed to change student perceptions of the amount of binge drinking showed an 18.5% drop in the number of students who perceived binge drinking as the norm (from 69.7% to 51.2%) and a corresponding reduction in self-reported binge drinking of 8.8% (from 43.0% to 34.2%). The apparent effectiveness of this prevention effort suggested that changing college students' perceptions of drinking norms may lower the proportion of students who engage in binge drinking.Keywords
This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Adolescents' perceptions of their peers' health norms.American Journal of Public Health, 1995
- Health and behavioral consequences of binge drinking in college. A national survey of students at 140 campusesPublished by American Medical Association (AMA) ,1994
- Beliefs About Resistance Self-Efficacy and Drug Prevalence: Do They Really Affect Drug Use?International Journal of the Addictions, 1990
- The Effects of School-Based Substance Abuse Education — A Meta-AnalysisJournal of Drug Education, 1988
- Perceiving the Community Norms of Alcohol Use among Students: Some Research Implications for Campus Alcohol Education Programming*International Journal of the Addictions, 1986
- The False Consensus Effect in Estimates of Smoking PrevalencePersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1983
- Some Methodological Problems, Solutions and Findings from Evaluating Risk Reduction ProjectsJournal of Drug Education, 1982