Kylee J Hagler1, Matthew R Pearson2, Kamilla L Venner2, Brenna L Greenfield3. 1. University of New Mexico Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Electronic address: khagler@unm.edu. 2. University of New Mexico Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. 3. University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, Minnesota, United States.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: College students tend to overestimate how much their peers drink, which is associated with higher personal alcohol use. However, research has not yet examined if this phenomenon holds true among Native American (NA) college students. This study examined associations between descriptive norms and alcohol use/consequences in a sample of NA and non-Hispanic White (NHW) college students. METHOD: NA (n=147, 78.6% female) and NHW (n=246, 67.8% female) undergraduates completed an online survey. RESULTS: NAs NHWs showed similar descriptive norms such that the "typical college student," "typical NA student," and "typical NHW student" were perceived to drink more than "best friends." "Best friends" descriptive norms (i.e., estimations of how many drinks per week were consumed by participants' best friends) were the most robust predictors of alcohol use/consequences. Effect size estimates of the associations between drinking norms and participants' alcohol use were consistently positive and ranged from r=0.25 to r=0.51 across the four reference groups. Negative binomial hurdle models revealed that all descriptive norms tended to predict drinking, and "best friends" drinking norms predicted alcohol consequences. Apart from one interaction effect, likely due to familywise error rate, these associations were not qualified by interactions with racial/ethnic group. CONCLUSIONS: We found similar patterns between NAs and NHWs both in the pattern of descriptive norms across reference groups and in the strength of associations between descriptive norms and alcohol use/consequences. Although these results suggest that descriptive norms operate similarly among NAs as other college students, additional research is needed to identify whether other norms (e.g., injunctive norms) operate similarly across NA and NHW students.
OBJECTIVE: College students tend to overestimate how much their peers drink, which is associated with higher personal alcohol use. However, research has not yet examined if this phenomenon holds true among Native American (NA) college students. This study examined associations between descriptive norms and alcohol use/consequences in a sample of NA and non-Hispanic White (NHW) college students. METHOD: NA (n=147, 78.6% female) and NHW (n=246, 67.8% female) undergraduates completed an online survey. RESULTS: NAs NHWs showed similar descriptive norms such that the "typical college student," "typical NA student," and "typical NHW student" were perceived to drink more than "best friends." "Best friends" descriptive norms (i.e., estimations of how many drinks per week were consumed by participants' best friends) were the most robust predictors of alcohol use/consequences. Effect size estimates of the associations between drinking norms and participants' alcohol use were consistently positive and ranged from r=0.25 to r=0.51 across the four reference groups. Negative binomial hurdle models revealed that all descriptive norms tended to predict drinking, and "best friends" drinking norms predicted alcohol consequences. Apart from one interaction effect, likely due to familywise error rate, these associations were not qualified by interactions with racial/ethnic group. CONCLUSIONS: We found similar patterns between NAs and NHWs both in the pattern of descriptive norms across reference groups and in the strength of associations between descriptive norms and alcohol use/consequences. Although these results suggest that descriptive norms operate similarly among NAs as other college students, additional research is needed to identify whether other norms (e.g., injunctive norms) operate similarly across NA and NHW students.
Authors: S Patricia Chou; Deborah A Dawson; Frederick S Stinson; Boji Huang; Roger P Pickering; Yuan Zhou; Bridget F Grant Journal: Drug Alcohol Depend Date: 2005-12-20 Impact factor: 4.492
Authors: Joel R Grossbard; Nadine R Mastroleo; Irene Markman Geisner; David Atkins; Anne E Ray; Jason R Kilmer; Kimberly Mallett; Mary E Larimer; Rob Turrisi Journal: Addict Behav Date: 2015-07-29 Impact factor: 3.913