Alcohol Use and Binge Drinking Behaviors in College Students

Alcohol use and abuse has consistently been an issue for people of all ages and walks of life. These behaviors are increasingly worrisome in the college student population. Many things factor into this complex issue. So many students are experiencing freedom from their parents for the first time, many already have established drinking behaviors, some are dealing with mental health issues, and then they all enter an environment that encourages alcohol use, often leading to abuse. Whites’ binge drinking was statistically greater compared to African Americans and Non-White / Non-African Americans.Methods: A sample of college students from 4 universities were administered the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Descriptive statistics and Dunn-Bonferroni Post-hos tests were performed.Results: When examining drinking and binge drinking behaviors, statistical significance was found between Freshmen and Sophomores (p=0.03) and between Freshmen and Juniors (p=0.042). Also, significance was found between White vs. African American students (p=0.001) and White vs. non-White or African American students (p=0.001). The purpose of this study was to examine the alcohol use and binge drinking behaviors of college students.