Alcohol use among college students: the effects of prior problem behaviors and change of residence.

OBJECTIVE: This article examines the relationship between prior problem behaviors and change in residence on alcohol use patterns among college students.
METHOD: Measures of alcohol consumption (e.g., drinking frequency, average consumption and frequency of heavy episodic drinking were related to residence patterns and prior problem behaviors (e.g., conduct problems. illicit substance involvement and early age at onset of alcohol consumption). Subjects (N = 2,465; 51% women) were a subsample drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Labor Market Experience in Youth. The analysis was conducted using a linear growth model for continuous outcomes with time-invariant and time-varying covariates for each of the drinking measures.
RESULTS: The results of the structural equation analysis yielded significant and direct effects related to residence patterns and prior problem behaviors. Problem behaviors were related to drinking measures; however, there was no evidence for a mediational hypothesis. Neither was there systematic evidence that the relationship between prior problem behavior and alcohol use was mediated by residence patterns. The analysis of change in residence was related to both time-specific and longer-term influences on alcohol use.
CONCLUSIONS: The presence of direct and independent effects for both dispositional and high-risk environmental factors in collegiate drinking practices support targeted and diverse strategies for prevention activities.