Final Abstract, Bibliography, Link to Paper

Abstract: An examination of the negative effects of college adjustment was done to measure whether or not drinking had a substantial effect on incoming freshman and their adjustment. Students go through what is a considered a “developmental disturbance” and struggle to establish some sense of identity. This affects the social aspect of their college experience and makes them drawn to drinking. I explored the effects of the environment on an individual, as well as the individual’s effect on the environment and discovered that students who drink tend to by psychologically unstable and uncomfortable with their college adjustment. Community college students were included in this examination because they represent a separate, but equally important, population. Motivation was taken into consideration as well, in regards to whether a student is first generational or not. In summation, it was found that privatization takes advantage of the general struggle with college adjustment and accepts underage drinking.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Andrew, F. W., BaileyShea, C., & McIntosh, S. (2012). Community college student alcohol use: Developing context-specific evidence and prevention approaches. Community College Review, 40(1), 25-45. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1007871979?accountid=13626

 Aspelmeier, Jeffery; Love, Michael; McGill, Lauren; Elliot, Ann; Pierce, Thomas. “Self-Esteem, Locus of Control, College Adjustment, And GPA Among First-And Continuing-Generation Students: A Moderator Model of Generational Status.” Research in High Education 53.7 (n.d.): 755. EBSCO: OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson) (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 27 Nov.2012.

Fisher, Celia B.; Fried, Adam L.; Anushko, Andrea. “Development And Validation of the College Drinking Influences Survey.” Journal of American College Health 56.3 (n.d.): 217. EBSCO: Academic Search Premier (EBSCO EIT) (EIT) (XML), Web. 28. Nov.2012.

Galatzer-Levy, Isaac R.; Burton, Charles L.; Bonanno, George A. “Coping Flexibility, Potentially Traumatic Life Events, And Resilience: A Prospective Study of College Student Adjustment.” Journal of Social & Clinical Psycholohy 31.6 (n.d.): 542. EBSCO: Academic Search Premier (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 5 Dec.2012.
Gladwell, Malcolm. "Annals of Anthropology: Drinking Games." (underlined) (The New Yorker). February 15 & 22, 2010: 70-76.

Hoeppner, Bettina B.; Barnett, Nancy E; Jackson, Kristina M.; Colby, Suzanne M.; Kahler, Christopher W.; Monti, Peter M.; Read, Jennifer; Tevyaw, Tracy; Wood, Mark; Corriveau, Donald; Fingeret, Allan. "Daily College Student Drinking Patterns Across The First Year Of College." Journal Of Studies On Alcohol & Drugs 73.4 (n.d.): 613. EBSCO: Academic Search Premier (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 14 Oct. 2012.

LaBrie, Joseph W.; Ehret, Phillip J.;Hummer, Justin F. “Poor Adjustment to College Life Mediates the Relationship Between Drinking Motives and Alcohol Consequences: A Look at College Adjustment, Drinking Motives, and Drinking Outcomes.” Addictive Behaviors 37.4 (n.d.): 379-386. Thomson Scientific: ISI Web of Knowledge—Web of Science. Web. 4 Nov. 2012.

MORROW,JENNIFER ANN; ACKERMANN, MARGOT E. “Intention To Persist and Retention Of First-Year Students: The Importance Of Motivation And Sense Of Belonging.” College Student Journal 46.3 (n.d.): 483. EBSCO: Academic Search Premier (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 5 Dec. 2012.

Nichols, Thomas (Interview with the Assistant Coordinator of the Livingston Apartment of Rutgers University, experience as an residential assistant, RA, for four years, Graduate Intern)

Osberg, Timothy M.; Billingsley, Katherine; Eggert, Meredith. “From Animal House To Old School: A Multiple Mediation Analysis Of The Association Between College Drinking Movie Exposure And Freshman Drinking And Its Consequence.” Addictive Behaviors 37.8 (n.d.): 922 – 930. Thomson Scientific: ISI Web of Knowledge –Web of Science. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

Link to Paper: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CvWkdPEU0ISzpgyQ6H-zQmSoaRiv25qzJHpWkQbos3Y/edit

Interview

I held an interview with the graduate intern of the Livingston Apartments, Thomas Nichols. Thomas and I discussed how prevalent of an issue alcohol use is in residential life. We discussed when underage drinking is found most and discussed the typical procedure involved. Thomas has been a residential assistant for four years and can easily say that "alcohol related issues are important in residential life and these are the largest infractions that we have to handle." What's interesting is also that freshman tend to be more of a problem while transfer students usually stay away from alcohol. Thomas states that "I don't think transfer students have worse problems with alcohol They tend to be older or at least further along in their education and more motivated to simply work on their academics than to go drinking." We also discussed the option to go to CAPS or not and whether students take advantage of this. Overall, Thomas made me realize how much of an issue alcohol use is in residence life and therefore how much students depend on it as a stress reliever.


Thomas Nicholas (Graduate Intern of the Livingston Apartments, Rutgers University)
Interview held on December 10th, 2012
Contact Information: thomnich@eden.rutgers.edu

Visual

With this image, I will show why there is a difference between first generation and the continuiing generation, in terms of motivation towards academics.


First-generation students tend to be more successful with college adjustment. They tend to have more
extra-curriculars and also more support from friends and so, their “internal locus of control” is more positively associated with them.  Though when faced with adversity, first-generation students tend to do worse than the continuing generation, as depicted in Figure 1. In the end, they manage to do just as well as the continuing generation, but it is more of an overall struggle in doing so. In Figure 2, generational status is seen as sensitizing. When conditions are favorable, they are better off than the continuing generation but again, struggle more than the continuing generation when faced with adversity.

 

Literature Review #5

 1.)

 

2.)

Aspelmeier, Jeffery; Love, Michael; McGill, Lauren; Elliot, Ann; Pierce, Thomas. “Self-Esteem, Locus of Control, College Adjustment, And GPA Among First-And Continuing-Generation Students: A Moderator Model of Generational Status.” Research in High Education 53.7 (n.d.): 755. EBSCO: OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson) (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 27 Nov.2012.

3.) This source discussed how students' self-esteem is affected through college adjustment. First generation and continuing generation students differ greatly in how motivated they are with their academics. First-generation students were found to be more successful with college adjustment. But at the same time, they suffer more when they run into obstacles, in comparison to continuing generation students. This source discuses why students have different motives and how support and self-esteem are critical with college adjustment. Generational status was found to affect academic achievement.

4.) "Dr. Jeff Aspelmeier is a member of the Department of Psychology at Radford University. His research focuses on close relationships, adjustment, and cognitive processes. He has been collaborating with Dr. Ann Elliott to study predictors and consequences of childhood sexual abuse among women. Dr. Aspelmeier currently teaches courses in research, social psychology, and the psychology of diversity." 

http://gstudies.asp.radford.edu/conferences/conf07/Speakers.htm

5.)  First-generation status acts as a sensitizing factor. Positive and negative effects of locus control are increased with them more than with continuing students. Overall, they are more affected by college adjustment. Another point that is made is that first generation students have less social support and are less inclined to go "greek." 

6.)   "Further, it was found that for the majority of the interactions with locus of control, first-generation status acted as a sensitizing factor that amplified both the positive and negative effects of locus of control. In contrast, for self-esteem, first generation status acted as a risk factor that only exacerbated the negative effects of low self-esteem"

first generation have self-esteem but are more likely to face hardship and struggle more than continuing generation. i hope to discuss how this affects their desire to drink or not 

"Once in college, first-generation students continue to report different experiences than their peers. For example, first-generation students are more likely to report lower levels of social support (Billson and Terry 1982, r ² = .07; York-Anderson and Bowman 1991, r ² = .06; Terenzini et al. 1996, r ² = .04), feeling less prepared for college (Bui 2002, r ² = .03), being less knowledgeable about college (Bui 2002, r ² = .03), and being more worried about failing compared to their peers (Bui 2002, r ² = .06). First-generation students are also less likely to live on campus (Billson and Terry 1982, r ² = .09; Pascarella et al. 2004, r ² = .04) and less likely to “go Greek” (Pascarella et al. 2003, r ² = .09)." 

 first-generation seem to have more to worry about with college adjustment yet they are less likely to go Greek. I find this interesting and I would like to talk about why I think they may be less motivated to drink and what makes people inclined to drink 

 

* there are two charts showing how generational status acts as a risk factor and also a sensitizing factor. I would like to use these two to emphasize the difference between first generation and continuing generation with college adjustment

7.) I find this source to be particularly interesting because I, myself, am a first generation Italian American. With this source, I think I will be able to make my argument a bit more personal. It's interesting to see how first generation students are less likely to go "Greek" and thus drink. I'd like to think that privatization allows for underage drinking because for continuing students, they need that support and motivation with college adjustment. For first generation students, they are already motivated by this "American Dream." They already have some sort of locus of control and self-esteem and are self-motivated. I hope to use this source to communicate how drinking offers other students who are struggling with college adjustment some sort of support. In addition, first generation students are particularly motivated to attend college because they want to secure their future. This is why they are more willing to accept the high price of tuition. They generally accept this and the same can be said about drinking. It it accepted as well. 

Literature Review #4

1.)

 

2.) Osberg, Timothy M.; Billingsley, Katherine; Eggert, Meredith. “From Animal House To Old School: A Multiple Mediation Analysis Of The Association Between College Drinking Movie Exposure And Freshman Drinking And Its Consequence.” Addictive Behaviors 37.8 (n.d.): 922 – 930. Thomson Scientific: ISI Web of Knowledge –Web of Science. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

3.)  This study examined the effect of college drinking movies on students. They exposed students to drinking movies and then looked at their drinking patterns in the first sesmeter of college. Results showed that the movies had a direct effect on the students. The exposure made students more tempted to drink because drinking was accepted, actually glorified, and thus they wanted to have it become a part of their college experience.

 

4.)  "Dr. Tim Osberg joined the faculty of Niagara in September of 1982. He teaches courses in introductory psychology, abnormal psychology, clinical psychology, and psychological assessment in addition to supervising the department's practicum and co-op programs. His research interests include psychological assessment (with a focus on evaluating recent revisions of the MMPI-2), the role of mental health in college student retention, cognitive factors underpinning college student drinking, and the role of irrational food beliefs in weight loss and maintenance. He enjoys involving students in research conducted in his clinical psychology lab." http://www.niagara.edu/psychology-faculty/faculty/110

 

5.) This source focuses on college drinking movies and also college alcohol beliefs (what students think of drinking in college)

 

6.) “view immersion in the drinking culture as equally if not more important than academics” ( From Animal House to Old School: A Multiple Mediation Analysis of the Association Between College Drinking Movie Exposure and Freshman Drinking and its Consequences).

 

drinking is considered just as important as academics and students have chosen to accept this

 

“ ‘to become drunk is a college rite of passage …students who do not go out to parties or bars are not enjoying their college experience ..college is a time for experimentation’ ” (From Animal House to Old School: A Multiple Mediation Analysis of the Association Between College Drinking Movie Exposure and Freshman Drinking and its Consequences).

 

drinking is considered normal and accepted by society so students are drawn into this. they don't want to go against society.

 

“exposure to movies depicting alcohol use increases the likelihood of alcohol use among adolescents”  (From Animal House to Old School: A Multiple Mediation Analysis of the Association Between College Drinking Movie Exposure and Freshman Drinking and its Consequences).

 

movies glorify drinking which makes students think that drinking really is not so bad, even permissable

 

7.) This source will be helpful because it shows me how students have learned to accept drinking as something that, generally, everyone does. Privatization works in a similar way. Students have learned to accept high tuition as being simply normal and unavoidable. They don't quesiton it because no one else does. Everyone has learned to adjust to this. It is easier to accept what everyone else has already decided to accept rather than to try and change that. With this source, I could explain how the irrational decision made to drink can be understood. Students are pressured into accepting drinking as a part of the college experience.

Blog #7

At this point, I am starting to focus more on freshman students learning to adjust to college and drinking patterns. Students just entering college are overwhelmed by this new environment and find it very stressful to juggle academics with their social life. Because of this, they turn to options that will help alleviate their stress. There are both positive and negative options and many times, students focus on the negative ones, such as drinking. Drinking can be understood by examing the psychological state of mind a student is currently in, according to Poor Adjustment to College Life Mediaites the Relationship Between Drinking Motives and Alcohol Consequences: A Look at College Adjustment, Drinking Motives, and Drinking Outcomes. I would like to focus on the reason why college adjustment can be so stressful to students and thus why this makes them turn to drinking. It seems as though drinking has been accepted as something normal and expected of students and it's interesting to see how this relates to privatization. Tuition is so high for many universities but students have learned to simply accept that and even consider it normal. In  From Animal House to Old School: A Multiple Mediation Analysis of the Association Between College Drinking Movie Exposure and Freshman Drinking and its Consequences, it was discovered that movies tend to encourage drinking, even glorify it, and that this is why many students become more interested in alcohol. Even those who were not interested before now become interested because it's very much accepted as a part of the college experience. I find this to be particularly interesting how students who previously looked down upon drinking have suddenly changed their mind simply because society, as a whole, seems to approve. This is very much seen in privatization. People have simply learned to accept high tuition. Even though they are against it, everyone else accepts it as being necessary. I haven't really found any sources that I disagree with and I hope to continue to be able to focus on the freshman college students struggle with adjustment and how this leads to drinking.

Literature Review #3

1)

2) Andrew, F. W., BaileyShea, C., & McIntosh, S. (2012). Community college student alcohol use:  Developing context-specific evidence and prevention approaches. Community College Review, 40(1), 25-45. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1007871979?accountid=13626

3) This study looks at community college students and how often they drink alcohol. Most studies focus on students attending four year universities so this study focuses solely on community college students because they have not been represented in the calculated percentages of alcohol consumption. Environment and background was also considered in determining students' attitudes towards drinking. The aim is to find a way to instill prevention because community colleges, in particular, are limited in their resources for alcohol abuse prevention.

4) There are three authors but "Dr. McIntosh received his B.S. in Psychology in 1984 (Iowa State University), his M.A. in Counseling Psychology in 1986 (University of Missouri), and his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology in 1993 (University of Miami)."

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/people/22490087-scott-mcintosh

5) This study focuses on the drinking patterns of students attending community colleges. Normally, research on alcohol use is focused on four year universities so this study aims at solely focusing on community colleges. It also aims at understanding how the environment impacts the individual and how the individual has an effect on the environment.

6)"While several broad alcohol studies have included community college students, including a study of alcohol-related mortality among college students (Hingson et al., 2005), and a study of college matriculants as compared to those not attending college (O'Malley & Johnston, 2002), a weakness of these studies is that they have not disaggregated their results to address the community college student population"

Community college students are not considered in most studies so I hope to use this quote to introduce my point that community college students should also be included because they are dealing with a different environment and thus different levels of stress.

"More recently, research on student alcohol abuse has examined the relationship between the prevalence of alcohol use among children of alcoholics, finding a higher occurrence of alcohol abuse among community college students who have alcoholic parents as compared to the alcohol use rates of 4-year college students with alcoholic parents (Coll, 1995)."

It seems like there is a higher likelihood for community college students to become alcoholics and I'd like to explore why this may be, in comparison to students attending four year universities.

"Application of this health-behavior theory operates on the basis of the interaction between an individual's self-efficacy, outcome expectations, perceived environmental impediments and facilitators, and behavior. Bandura (2004) emphasizes the idea of reciprocal determinism, whereby the environment influences the individual and the individual influences the environment."

I think Bandura's theory is very interesting and offers merit. I agree with the idea of how the environment influences the individual and how the individual influences the environment and I'd like to make this a focus, in my essay.

7) This source will be particularly useful for me because it offers another interesting argument of the drinking patterns with community colleges. Community college students, for the most part, commute to school and thus don't live on campus. They don't have the same, typical "college experience" that the students attending four year universities have. And so,  I can further examine how maybe the fact that these students have to commute to school adds another, different, stress in their life that residential students don't have. 

Blog Post #6

The main case I will use is probably the "Daily College Student Drinking Patterns Across the First Year of College." With this case, a study was done to measure the impact that drinking has on students and it was also measured the average drinking patterns of students according to their surrounding environment (school, friends, etc). I find it to be particularly useful because it focuses on the drinking patterns, relative to which day of the week it is. Participants were asked to complete a survey every week where they documented how much they drank each day of the week. In addition, it was also measured how likely students were to engage in other activities such as marijuana use, because of alcohol consumption. The positive and negative effects of alcohol use was then measured in hopes of understanding why students have an interest in drinking. Overall, from this case, I saw that the surrounding environment certainly has an effect on the stress levels of college students. You could see an increased consumption of alcohol particularly on the weekends, which further supported my assumption that students depend on the weekends as a stress reliever. We see though that with alcohol use that students do not do as well with their academics. I hope to be able to use this information to better understand why drinking has a negative impact on students.

 

 

Hoeppner, Bettina B.; Barnett, Nancy E; Jackson, Kristina M.; Colby, Suzanne M.; Kahler, Christopher W.; Monti, Peter M.; Read, Jennifer; Tevyaw, Tracy; Wood, Mark; Corriveau, Donald; Fingeret, Allan. "Daily College Student Drinking Patterns Across The First Year Of College." Journal Of Studies On Alcohol & Drugs 73.4 (n.d.): 613. EBSCO: OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson) (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 20 Oct. 2012.

Research Blog #5 - Five Scholarly Sources

Arum, Richard, and Josipa Roksa. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2011. Print.

Cleveland, Michael J.; Lanza, Stephanie T.; Ray, Anne E. "Transitions In First-Year College Student Drinking Behaviors: Does Pre-College Drinking Moderate The Effects Of Parent- And Peer-Based Intervention Components?." Psychology Of Addictive Behaviors 26.3 (n.d.): 440-450. Thomson Scientific: ISI Web of Knowledge--Web of Science. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.

Gladwell, Malcolm. "Annals of Anthropology: Drinking Games." (underlined) (The New Yorker). February 15 & 22, 2010: 70-76.

Hoeppner, Bettina B.; Barnett, Nancy E; Jackson, Kristina M.; Colby, Suzanne M.; Kahler, Christopher W.; Monti, Peter M.; Read, Jennifer; Tevyaw, Tracy; Wood, Mark; Corriveau, Donald; Fingeret, Allan. "Daily College Student Drinking Patterns Across The First Year Of College." Journal Of Studies On Alcohol & Drugs 73.4 (n.d.): 613. EBSCO: Academic Search Premier (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 9 Oct. 2012.

 

LaBrie, Joseph W.; Ehret, Phillip J.; Hummer, Justin F.; Prenovost, Katherine. "Poor Adjustment To College Life Mediates the Relationship Between Drinking Motives And Alcohol Consequences: A Look At College Adjustment, Drinking Motives, And Drinking Outcomes." Addictive Behaviors 37.4 (n.d.): 379. EBSCO: OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson) (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 9 Oct. 2012.

Sperber, Murray A. Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports Is Crippling Undergraduate Education. New York: H. Holt, 2000. Print.

 

 

 

Research Question

Are students drawn to drinking because it helps them cope with the stress associated in attending college and is it a rational way of dealing with the effect of privatization? What can be done to help prevent students from drinking and thus find a healtheir way to cope with stress?

 

Literature Review Blog #2

(1)

(2)  Hoeppner, Bettina B.; Barnett, Nancy E; Jackson, Kristina M.; Colby, Suzanne M.; Kahler,   Christopher W.; Monti, Peter M.; Read, Jennifer; Tevyaw, Tracy; Wood, Mark; Corriveau, Donald; Fingeret, Allan. "Daily College Student Drinking Patterns Across The First Year Of College." Journal Of Studies On Alcohol & Drugs 73.4 (n.d.): 613. EBSCO: Academic Search Premier (EBSCO EIT) (XML). Web. 14 Oct. 2012.

(3) This sources discusses the drinking patterns of college students. A year-long sample was used to learn about the subpopulations of the student drinking patterns and from this, they were able to learn how the groups differed from each other during the first year of college, and even after. Online surveys were completed to discuss drinking behaviors and results showed that there was a pattern. Students would drink more or less depending on which day of the week it was and also if it was a holiday and also according to their academics. One could see what motivated students to drink and thus how to establish ways to instill prevention.

(4) There are several authors but I will mention one, Dr. Barnett

Brown University offers a biography stating that "Dr. Barnett is an Associate Professor (Research) in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the Program in Public Health. She completed her graduate training at the University of Washington and her predoctoral and postdoctoral training at Brown University. Her primary areas of interest are 1) developing and testing brief interventions for substance use among adolescents and young adults, 2) how change occurs following alcohol-related critical events, and 3) the use of internet-based and transdermal technologies for the assessment and treatment of alcohol use disorders. Her research has been funded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Her recent publications have focused on efficacy, mediators, and moderators of brief interventions for adolescents and young adults, efficacy of contingency management for reducing alcohol use, predictors of change following alcohol-related experiences, and characteristics of college students who have specific alcohol-related events. Dr. Barnett has served on numerous scientific review committees for the Center for Scientific Review and NIAAA, and is currently the Secretary of the Research Society on Alcoholism" (http://research.brown.edu/research/profile.php?id=1100925768)

(5) It is stressed that college student drinking is often reflective on factors such as family, school, and other things that can cause a student to become stressed. College students are also more likley to becom heavy drinkers than 12th graders or others who are not in college because of all the new stresses that students face. This study also essentially aims to understand drinking patterns and how they relate to risky behavior, academics, and cognitive consequences. By learning this, there is the hope of being able instill prevention.

(6) "College students often show risky drinking patterns and have higher rates of heavy-drinking occasions than either 12th graders or non-college attending peers" (Daily College Student Drinking Patterns Across the First Year of College, p. 613).

Freshman college students are much more at risk with becoming heavy drinkers because these studnts are in college for the first time and are thus adjusting to it for the first time. The pressure to drink can be very overwhelming and I'd like to tie this in with privatization and how students' fears/stresses about colleges makes them think irrationally.

"Results have indicated that college drinking follows a weekly pattern reflective of student role demands, but it is also influenced by family roles, external events, and fluctuations in academic pressures" (Daily College Student Drinking Patterns Across the First Year of College, p.614).

This shows that students drink in order to find relief from the stress they face in their everyday lives. College seems to make their stress all that more apparent and so students struggle to find a way to cope with it all. Not only that, they are worried about securing their future. Privatization seems to almost trick students into thinking that something is what they truly desire, or even need. Students are thinking irrationally when they hope that they will have a plan to pay of their debt, some time in the future. They don't want to think of the problem at the present moment so they put it off and drinking is a way that helps them do this successfully.

"The findings from this study showed that alcohol consumption was consistently different for three parts of the week, and that weekly drinking changed considerably as a function of academic requirements and holidays" (Daily College Student Drinking Patterns Across the First Year of Colege, p. 614).

Students drink according to what is going on in their life. Again, it is clear that they like to drink to cope with stress and it can be seen, particularly with freshman, that students aren't very rational with deciding how much they drink. As a result, we see them performing poorly with their academics. It is arguable that with all the money students are spending to attend college, students should be more careful with their academics. Students are deciding to look beyond this though and this is creating a big problem.

(7) This material will certainly be helpful to me because I hope to explain the drinking patterns of students. This source discusses students' reasons for drinking and how much students drink, according to which day of the week it is. This is also helpful for me to explain how to instill prevention because an argument I could make is that privatization doesn't seem to care how inmoral this is that students are drinking. Removing the ability to drink would not be favorable to privatization because it generally makes the university a bit less appealing to students. Studnets want to have the freedom to drink but I hope to explain why drinking is an irrational decision that they are making.

Research Proposal

Research Proposal Draft

Jennifer Sinacori

Working Title: “Liquid Courage:” The Solution for College Students?

Topic: I would like to discuss why students have an interest in drinking and how this correlates to privatization. I believe students are interested in drinking because it helps to significantly reduce the amount of stress they are in. Students should be very concerned about the financial debt they are accumulating, in order to obtain a college education. I will discuss how by drinking, students are risking the chance of not doing so well with their academics. The argument may be made that the stakes are higher for students, because of all the money they are spending towards obtaining a college education and that students should be more wary of the decisions that they are making. Drinking jeopardizes their chances of doing well but at the same time offers them a way to cope with the stress. It may not be the most rational way but I’d like to discuss how students use drinking, among other things, as an irrational way of dealing with anxiety.

Research Question: Are students drawn to drinking because it helps them cope with the stress associated in attending college and is it a rational way of dealing with the effect of privatization?

Theoretical Frame: In the study of the “Daily College Student Drinking Patterns Across the First Year of College,” it was found that “college drinking follows a weekly pattern reflective of student role demands, but it is also influenced by family roles, external events, and fluctuations in academic pressures.” Medium-drinking clusters tended to spend less time on their homework and thus have lower grade point averages. Drinking patterns clearly seem to be reflective of what is going on in a student’s day to day life and not only that, it seen as something very social. People drink to simply socialize and it has essentially become a culture in itself, as described in “The Drinking Games”. It costs quite a bit of money to attend college and students are well aware of this. If you ask them how they plan on paying back the loans, most of them shrug and say that things will simply work out. They are aware of the fact that they need loans to pay for their education but many of them aren’t aware of exactly how much they are taking out. Students are led to think irrationally by assuming that they are pursuing a college degree and that this in itself is a security blanket. Regardless, students still feel the need to find a way to cope with the stress. In “Transitions in First-Year College Student Drinking Behaviors: Does Pre-College Drinking Moderate the Effects of Parent -And-Peer-Based Intervention Components”, it was found that incoming college freshman are much more likely to become heavy drinkers because they are struggling to transition from high school to college. They turn to drinking because it offers them comfort and an escape from reality. In the article, “College Drinking is Liberating, and a Good Excuse”, students drink because it gives them "liquid courage." It gives them the courage to escape reality. What’s unfortunate is that many students don’t seem to realize that they are making an irrational decision by choosing to drink away their problems. The fact that these students need to pay back the loans they took out for school should be enough to make them realize that they need to focus on their academics. It is interesting to see how students still turn to drinking, even though this affects their overall abilities in academic performance. It’s risky, more now than ever, to fail college. Privatization has certainly increased the risks by helping to increase the total student debt accumulated and they are well aware of that. I hope to explore why students are able to overlook the possible negative outcome that can be associated with drinking.

Research and Plan

In “Poor Adjustment to College Life Mediates the Relationship Between Drinking Motives and Alcohol Consequences: A look at college adjustment, drinking motives, and drinking outcomes,” there was a study done that examined the relationships between drinking motives and the resulting outcome from drinking. It was found that drinking was considered a big stress reliever for many students and that there is a need to discuss strategies for decreasing stress that will help students with adjusting to college life. Students seem to drink in order to “enhance positive outcomes or avoid negative outcomes” and it was narrowed down to three main reasons for why students turn to drinking: “enhancement (e.g., drinking to induce positive mood), social (e.g., drinking to be more outgoing), and coping (e.g., drinking to avoid negative emotions).” Students completed a Daily Drinking Questionnaire where they had to keep track of alcohol consumed and it was later examined to see how much students depend on it to as a stress reliever.

Some books I’d like to look at are Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports Has Crippled Undergraduate Education by Murray Sperber and Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses by Richard Arum. While drinking seems to serve students’ best interests, one should also consider how it serves the interests of privatization. Privatization does not focus on providing students the best education possible. School administrators are more concerned about making schools seem appealing, overall, and thus college culture is greatly appealing. Students are drawn into the “culture” and so perhaps the reason why students are able to drink so freely is because people do not care to put a stop to it. It doesn’t serve the interests of privatization to make alcohol unavailable to students. Administrators don’t seem to care about how immoral this may be because drinking can help boost a college’s reputation. Most students have a desire to attend a school where they will have that “culture” and that ability to party. Ultimately, these students are seeking the college experience so if administrators were to take that away, it would make a college much less appealing to many of them. Ideally, I’d like to piece together how students’ stress over the effects of privatization have caused them to look at drinking as a way of coping with the stress and how privatization has ultimately taken advantage of this.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arum, Richard, and Josipa Roksa. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2011. Print.

Cleveland, Michael J.; Lanza, Stephanie T.; Ray, Anne E. "Transitions In First-Year College Student Drinking Behaviors: Does Pre-College Drinking Moderate The Effects Of Parent- And Peer-Based Intervention Components?." Psychology Of Addictive Behaviors 26.3 (n.d.): 440-450. Thomson Scientific: ISI Web of Knowledge--Web of Science. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.

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