More than half of US college students experienced alcohol-related harms caused by other students, according to some recently published results from a national probability-based survey. Appearing in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review in December, this important study sheds light on how others’ drinking affects students’ health, academics, and safety.
The study surveyed more than 1,900 students at 46 US colleges and universities. Researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) found that 53.5 percent of students reported experiencing at least one harm caused by someone else’s drinking, ranging from verbal abuse and physical confrontations to academic disruptions and emotional distress.
The most commonly reported harms included having to babysit drinkers (33.8 percent), followed by social harms, such as physical or psychological distress (23.5 percent), sleep or study disruptions (15 percent), and verbal harassment (14.3 percent). Other harms included being emotionally hurt/neglected or feeling threatened/afraid (13.1 percent), having unwanted sexual contact (5.1 percent), being physically assaulted (4.3 percent), and experiencing academic consequences such as dropping a class or transferring schools (3.1 percent).
Students who identified as White, female, transgender, gender-nonconforming, or of higher socioeconomic status, as well as those living with roommates, attending four-year institutions, or participating in Greek life or intercollegiate athletics, were at greater risk for alcohol-related harms.
“College drinking is sometimes seen as a rite of passage, but this rite has dangerous and harmful ripple effects,” says study senior author Dr. David Jernigan, professor of health law, policy & management at BUSPH. “There is much more that campuses and governments can do to better protect students from these harms.”
