Comparison of alcohol use in an ethnically diverse sample of women attending two urban universities.

Dear Editor:

The use of alcohol on the campuses of American colleges and universities has been of interest to researchers for many years, as college attendance seems to have an effect on drinking behaviors (Presley, Meilman & Leichliter, 2002). Many college students report some experimentation with alcohol during their postsecondary education, but most do not incur significant negative consequences unless their pattern of use is excessive (O'Hare, 1990). Research notes that risk factors for excessive drinking among students differs based on gender, ethnicity, and other demographics of the student, and characteristics of the campus, and surrounding area (Baer, 2002; O'Malley & Johnston, 2002; Presley, et al., 2002). Historically, rates of heavy drinking have been higher for white, male, undergraduate students. Further research is needed among female students, as they react to or may be affected physiologically by alcohol in different ways than men. Alcohol misuse or abuse may also have a detrimental affect on the goals, educational attainments, and potential of success for women.

We compared patterns of alcohol consumption among women at two campuses using results of the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey (CORE). Data were collected at a historically Black (HBCU), and a predominantly White university (PWU) in the same state. Both institutions are public and urban with enrollments less than 10,000 students each. Although both institutions are ethnically diverse, the majority of women were Black and White respectively, as confirmed by the institutions' offices of enrollment. We hypothesized that women at the PWU would report different patterns and significantly higher rates of drinking than those at the HBCU.

Ethnic differences in drinking have been observed in numerous studies. Findings from an earlier CORE Survey demonstrated that Native American and White students had the highest use of alcohol, followed by Hispanic, Black and Asian students (Presley, Meilman, & Cashin, 1996a). Consistent with the CORE Survey, African American students have been noted to drink less frequently and in smaller quantities than other ethnic groups. In a Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS) survey summary for 2001, 21.7% of African Americans were reported to be heavy drinkers, compared to 50.2% of Whites, 34.4% of Hispanics, 33.6% of Native Americans and 26.2% of Asians (Wechsler, Lee, Kuo, Seibring, Nelson, Lee, 2002). The differences in heavy alcohol consumption among ethnic groups, specifically Black, White, and Hispanic students have been consistent since the 1980s with little evidence of change (O'Malley & Johnston, 2002).

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention has compiled results of studies on alcohol usage at HBCUs (Kapner, 2003). The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) conducted two of the largest studies at HBCUs between 1998 and 1999, involving more than 10,000 students on 39 campuses. Like the CAS, binge drinking was defined as four or more alcoholic beverages in one sitting during the two weeks prior to the survey. By those measures, binge drinking was reported for 18% and 15% of the sample for the two respective study periods. In a 2001 survey of students among three HBCUs in North Carolina, 10.1% of men, and 7.8% of women in the sample of 1,587 students reported binge drinking using the same measurement criteria as the CSAT study (Fowler, 2001).

Using a measure of five or more drinks during the two weeks before the survey, a national study conducted by the Core Institute (Presley, Meilman, Cashin & Lyeria, 1996b) surveyed 40,000 college and university students in which 22.5% of African American students were reported to be heavy drinkers. In a comparison of African American students on majority Black and majority White campuses, drinking patterns were noted to be similar at 1.4 and 1.7 drinks per week, respectively. It was further noted in the Core study that Whites enrolled at HBCUs drink less than Whites at non-HBCUs.

Gender similarities in risk factors for alcohol consumptions include motivation, pre-college alcohol usage, and academic, legal, and personal problem behavior measures (Baer, 2002; McCabe, 2002). One gender difference in risks is a woman's lower rate of gastric metabolism of alcohol (Wechsler, Dowdall, Davenport, & Rimm, 1995). Differences in alcohol usage between male and female ethnic minorities have been noted to increase compared to Whites (O'Malley & Johnston, 2002). Data from two national studies, the National College Health Risk Behavior survey (NCHRBS) (CDC, 1997) and the CAS survey (Wechsler, Dowdall, Davenport & Rimm, 1995) both concluded that African American, White, and Hispanic women all consume less alcohol than their male counterparts.

Various socioeconomic factors have been identified as contributors to the drinking habits of college women, including income, marital status and religiosity. Crawford (1995) reported that income levels were positively correlated to alcohol utilization among college students, with women in higher income groups more likely to drink than their lower income counterparts. In ethnic comparisons, Caetano, Clark, and Tam (1998) reported that income was associated with drinking status among White and Hispanic women, but not among African American women. Further findings indicated that marital status may predict current drinking behaviors among Whites, but not among Hispanics or African American women. One of the strongest predictors of current drinking is the impact of an individuals' religion (Caetano et al., 1998), with those reporting stronger religiosity and more commitment to traditional values (Baer, 2002) being less likely to engage in excessive drinking.

College women report higher rates of binging than their non-college counterparts (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1999). According to Dowdall, Crawford, & Wechsler (1998), women who attend mixed gender colleges are at a higher risk of binge drinking with its alcohol-related problems compared to women at single gender colleges. Morse (2002) found the largest increase in drinking at women's colleges, however. McCabe (2002) observed that upper class women (sophomores, juniors and seniors) were less likely to report heavy drinking than freshman women. Women living at home with their parents reportedly drink less and abstain more than women living on campus or independently (O'Hare, 1990).

Researchers have studied the relationship to campus organizations and membership and alcohol consumption. A study by Cashin (1998) of sorority leaders found that they consumed more alcohol than did other members. In addition, student involvement in athletics was found to be positively associated with binge drinking (Wechsler et al., 1997). Individuals who have memberships in both a sorority and athletic team are determined to be at the highest risk of heavy drinking (Meilman et al. 1999). Clapp, Shillington, and Segars (2000) reported the most common occasions associated with heavy binging episodes were parties, dates, socializing at campus events or being with friends. The various factors observed in association with drinking among college women may impact their academic and employment success.

Participants for the present study were female students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses at two institutions in the southeastern United States, one a HBCU and the other a PWU. The total sample from the two schools was 276 with 136 (49.3%) and 140 (50.7%) from the Black and White campus, respectively. Subjects ranged in age from 18 to 53 years with 40.9% considered traditional (less than 26 years of age) and 59.1% considered non-traditional (27 years of age and older). In the two groups combined, 49.6% of the students were bachelor's level and 50.4% were master's degree candidates. The sample from the two campuses was ethnically diverse with 43.1% African American (n = 119), 39% Caucasian (n = 110); 11.2%, Hispanic (n = 31); .7% Native American (n = 2); 2.2% Asian, (n = 6) and 2.9% other (n = 8). Marital status was reported as single (51.1%), married (36.6%), divorced (9.8%), and separated (2.5%).

Participants were selected based on a convenience sample within education, social science, and free arts courses. These classes were chosen for their size and number to enhance the enrollment of women. With permission of the professors, students were verbally informed of the project and volunteers were asked to complete the survey at the end of their respective classes. Each participant was individually approached and asked to flU out the CORE survey on drinking behavior. Those who volunteered were told the survey would take less than 15 minutes to complete and anonymity and confidentially were assured. Students were debriefed about the project after completing the survey.

The Core Alcohol and Drug Survey (CORE) is a 23-item instrument that collects student demographic information, and assesses two categorical indexes detailing drugs and alcohol usage on college campuses (Presley, Meilman, Lyerla, 1993). One index reports college student's attitudes, perceptions, and opinions about alcohol and other drug use. The second index reports the student's self-reported alcohol and drug use and associated consequences. Demographic characteristics and responses to the second CORE index were used in the present analysis.

The CORE instrument was constructed to establish contentrelated validity by sampling test items representative of a content domain and reports an inter-rater agreement for item inclusion as .90 (Presley et al., 1993). The survey indexes elicit a self-report of the number of weekly drinks and binge drinking episodes. A standard drink measurement was 10 to 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine, wine cooler or one shot measure of a mixed drink. The categories for binge drinking frequencies within the last two weeks were coded as 1 = none, 2 = once, 3 = twice, 4 = three to five times, 5 = six to nine times, and 6 = ten or more times.

Data were managed using SPSS version 11.0 (2002). The independent sample t test was used to assess differences between two individual groups and weekly drinking means. For the purpose of this investigation, the student's t test (t) was reported because the groups consisted of 20 or more respondents and assumptions have been met ('Fern & Monroe, 1996). The Kruskal-Wallis test was used for assessing the significance of relationships between categorical independent variables and/or continuous dependent variables (Vogt, 1992). Binge frequencies were measured as ordinal rank scales and the assumptions for the Kruskal-Wallis test (Siegel & Castellan, 1988) were satisfied and appropriate. The Phi ([phi]) was used to report the relationship strength regarding ordinal variables. The average number of drinks per week was reported as interval variables. Eta ([[eta].sup.2]) denoted the strength of each association between the nominal and interval variables (Morgan et al., 2002).

The Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance showed no significant mean ranking of binge frequencies and campuses [chi square] (5, N = 276) = 6.244, p = .05, [[eta].sup.2] = .071, between HBCU and PWU ((N = 276), with binging M rank = 136.55, n = 219, none; Mrank = 148.12, n = 26, once; M rank = 122.17, n = 18 twice; M rank = 175.83, n = 9, three to five times; M rank = 206.50, n = 2, six to nine times; and M rank = 137.50, n = 2 indexed by respondents reporting binging 10 or more times with the degree of association.

A Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance reported a significant effect of ethnicity on the number of weekly drinks, [chi square] (5, N = 276) = 21.013, p = .001, [[eta].sup.2] = .198. Mean ranks reported for ethnicity were as follows: 81.0, n = 2, American Indian; 142.10, n = 31, Hispanic; 141.58, n = 6, Asian/Pacific Islander; 160.35, n = 110, Caucasian; 118.77, n = 119, African Americans and 129.63, n = 8, other. For the total sample of Caucasian and African American respondents results indicated a significant relationship ([phi] = .361, z (229) = 4568.00, p = .001), thereby supporting the hypothesis that Whites (M rank= 132.81, n = 110) report a higher number of alcoholic drinks per week than African Americans (M rank = 98.54, n = 119).

A t test was used to assess the number of weekly number of drinks reported by the women. Data revealed a significant difference between the two campuses, t (274) = -3.103, p = .002, [[eta].sup.2] = .184. On average, women attending the PWU displayed an increased weekly consumption rate that was higher (M = 2.40, SD = 5.80) compared to women attending the HBCU (M = .76, SD = 2.14). Although the rate was greater for the women attending the PWU, it did not constitute binge drinking.

Our analysis is unique in its comparison of gender and ethnicity in part due to the sample of predominately single, older female college students at two institutions. The demonstrated patterns of alcohol consumption parallel those found in other studies. As hypothesized, the women at the PWU drank more than the women at the HBCU. White women were found to have more weekly drinks than the African American women and all other ethnicities enrolled in the study, including Native Americans, Hispanics, Asian/Islanders, and Other groups. The reported rates of alcohol consumption for the Hispanic women were between those for the Whites and Blacks. These patterns were consistent with the CAS and CORE results with the exception of the Native Americans, who were noted to have lower rates than all the other groups, including the African Americans. The small sample size may account for this result. We observed no significant differences in mean ranking of binge frequencies and campuses.

In a similar study of ethnic differences of alcohol use on two college campuses in South Carolina, African American students enrolled at the majority Black institution were less likely to drink, and much less likely to drink to excess than the White students at a majority White institution (Hausman, 2002). In that same research, it was postulated that protective factors for the Black students may include parent's income level, student's religiosity, and perceptions about available support systems within the institution. These same factors may account for the lower drinking rates among the women at the HBCU campus in our study.

Colthurst (1998) observed that HBCU communities are sensitive to culture and academic success; a culture created by staff members and continuing students that assists new enrollees. A commitment to student retention, especially for those matriculating from innercity high schools, was also noted. Pascarella and Terenzini (1991) found more support for students to graduate and higher earning potential afterwards. Meilman et al. (1995) suggested a number of other factors on HBCU campuses, which, may contribute to lower rates of consumption. These factors included a less disposable income for alcohol and other drugs, fewer opportunities to party compared to Whites, less tolerance of substance abuse by the administration, a greater emphasis on spirituality and religion, a greater sense of purpose, and more pressure to succeed. We believe these factors may warrant further study in gender differences, especially among older and married women.

Personal characteristics, (including genetics) and other attributes of the campus, including the external environment (i.e. bars, nightclubs,) physical aspects (geographic region, size, living arrangements for students,) and the socio-cultural environment (athletics, Greek organizations, traditions, and social norms and perceptions of drinking), all affect the rates of alcohol consumption on college and university campuses. The prevalence, severity, and consequences of excessive drinking on campus will remain a significant challenge for university leaders and educators until these and other contributing factors are more fully understood. The university environment is undergoing a transformation as it is no longer perceived as a solitary culture with a homogeneous student population. The percentages of nontraditional age, women and ethnic minorities are increasing, prompthag the development of screening tools and comprehensive theoretical models to detect and better explain the ongoing problem.

Despite these efforts, additional studies are necessary to further investigate social, cultural, ethnic, and gender differences as they may offer strategies to reduce campus drinking nationally. The research could assist administrators and other school personnel, and health care practitioners to more effectively target alcohol abuse prevention, intervention, education and policy development for high-risk individuals and groups. Change can be facilitated through the concerted effort of a cadre of college and university personnel and the communities that surround the institutions. A description of specific research proposals is beyond the scope of this letter.

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Teresa G. Laird, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma 

Andrea J. Shelton, University of Texas, Houston