APA News Release

March 11, 2001
Contact: Pam Willenz
Public Affairs Office
(202) 336-5707

Washington - Researchers have known for years that membership in a Greek letter social organization is associated with heavy drinking among college students. However, the findings of a new study examining college students' drinking behavior, Greek membership and post-college drinking patterns indicate that heavy drinking among college Greeks does not generally lead to increased alcohol use later in life. Furthermore, it isn't necessarily membership in a Greek house that leads to excessive drinking during college but rather the perception among Greek members that such drinking is normal for their group, say researchers.

College students will drink more alcohol when they are around friends who also drink a lot, whether in their fraternity house or at a resort town on spring break with 30 friends, said psychologists Kenneth J. Sher, Ph.D., of the University of Missouri at Columbia and the Missouri Alcoholism Research Center and Bruce D. Bartholow, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Their study in this month's Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, published by the American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that because these behaviors are situational and peer-driven, they don't usually continue after college, possibly because these young adults adopt more adult roles, such as full-time employment, marriage and parenthood.

In their study of alcohol use during college and after, Drs. Sher and Bartholow surveyed 319 college students about their drinking habits every year during the college years and again three years after graduation. The students were also asked how their friends felt about drinking, how many of their friends drank and how often and what expectations they had concerning the positive effects of alcohol. The authors also assessed participants' academic ability and pre-college achievement and major personality traits such as introversion/extroversion and novelty seeking.

The study found that Greek members drank significantly more during the college years than students who did not belong to Greek houses. In addition, heavy drinking during junior and senior years was associated with being a Greek member as a freshman. But after controlling for background academic and personality factors, Greek members were no more likely to drink excessively after college than those who didn't join a Greek house, said the authors. "Drinking patterns among Greeks and those not affiliated with a Greek house were clearly different during college, but by three years after college, levels of heavy drinking among Greek members had moderated significantly."

Furthermore, our study finds that heavy drinking is a result of students' perceptions that excessive alcohol use is normal in Greek houses, and perceptions that their peers encourage and support heavy drinking lifestyle during college, said the authors. "Once the students leave campus they are no longer immersed in a social environment that supports heavy drinking and their drinking decreases as a result."

Our findings are certainly consistent with norms-based, prevention approaches that seek to counter faulty beliefs about what constitutes typical drinking levels on campus. However, it is clear that effective prevention of excessive alcohol consumption on campus involves efforts with clear alcohol policies, consistent enforcement of those policies and coordination with prevention efforts in the larger community surrounding the campus. There also needs to be appropriate intervention services for those students manifesting signs and symptoms of alcohol dependence and methods for identifying and motivating them for treatment," said the authors.

Article: "Short- and Long-Term Effects of Fraternity and Sorority Membership on Heavy Drinking: A Social Norms Perspective," Kenneth J. Sher, Ph.D., and Shivani Nanda, B.A., University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri Alcoholism Research Center; and Bruce D. Bartholow, Ph.D., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Vol. 15, No. 1.

Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office and at http://www.apa.org/journals/features/adb15142.pdf

Kenneth J. Sher, Ph.D. can be reached by telephone at (573) 882-4279

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 159,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 53 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 59 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.