Citation

Seo DC, Li K. Ann. Behav. Med. 2009; 38(3): 262-268.

Affiliation

Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA, seo@indiana.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12160-009-9150-3

PMID

20087704

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the effect of college-level contextual factors on students' binge drinking. Most previous studies focused on the effect of individuals' characteristics on their binge drinking. PURPOSE: This study tested the effect of college-level contextual factors on students' binge drinking. METHODS: The 2006 National College Health Assessment data collected from 76,542 students in 113 U.S. 4-year colleges were analyzed using the Hox five-step hierarchical random effects logistic regression models. RESULTS: College-level variables, such as percentages of male students, marijuana users, Black students, and students with Greek affiliation, significantly predicted students' binge drinking above and beyond student-level predictors. An intraclass correlation was 0.10 in the null model, indicating that 10% of students' binge drinking could be explained by differences among colleges. Significant cross-level interactions were found between college-level variables and student-level variables. CONCLUSIONS: In order to reduce binge drinking in college, the findings underscore the need for active intervention within the college climate that addresses drinking.

Language: en