In a commencement speech to Kenyon graduates, David Foster Wallace metaphorically refers to our routine daily lives as water. If this holds any truth, then the metaphorical beverage equivalent with college is alcohol. Monitoring the Future (MTF) is a 40 year ongoing study at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor that surveys approximately 50,000 students a year. MTF reports that 81% of college students, and 86% of young adults from 19 to 28 years old have tried alcohol and alcohol usage has been identified as a major health problem among the college population. Although studies continue show declining alcohol usage in both the non-college attending and college attending age group, the college attending group consistently had overall higher prevalence of alcohol usage. This means that college students have displayed higher
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Several studies have focused on the relationship between alcohol consumption and mental health problems among college students, but results have been mixed. For example, data from the 1997 and 1999 College Alcohol Study (CAS) found that a measure of “poor mental health” was associated with increased odds of meeting criteria for alcohol abuse. Similarly, Stewart, Zvolensky, and Eifert (2001) reported positive correlations between anxiety sensitivity and frequency of heavy drinking episodes. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in college-aged individuals was similar to the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the US, with the exception of alcohol and substance use disorders, which were more than double the prevalence found in the general adult population. Previous research has shown that the hazard rate for onset of alcohol use disorders peaks at age 19 years and becomes much lower in the following years. Furthermore, about one-half of individuals with alcohol use disorders at age 19 continue to have these disorders at age 25 (Cranford et al,
Several studies have focused on the relationship between alcohol consumption and mental health problems among college students, but results have been mixed. For example, data from the 1997 and 1999 College Alcohol Study (CAS) found that a measure of “poor mental health” was associated with increased odds of meeting criteria for alcohol abuse. Similarly, Stewart, Zvolensky, and Eifert (2001) reported positive correlations between anxiety sensitivity and frequency of heavy drinking episodes. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in college-aged individuals was similar to the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the US, with the exception of alcohol and substance use disorders, which were more than double the prevalence found in the general adult population. Previous research has shown that the hazard rate for onset of alcohol use disorders peaks at age 19 years and becomes much lower in the following years. Furthermore, about one-half of individuals with alcohol use disorders at age 19 continue to have these disorders at age 25 (Cranford et al,