The UT Experience!

In an effort to develop more comprehensive models to explain drinking behavior and related behavioral risk, I have been working as a Co-Investigator with Dr. Kim Fromme at The University of Texas at Austin on “The UT Experience!” This study focuses on a wide range of behavioral risks during the transition from high school to college. We are currently in the fifth year of this project which is funded (R01) by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The goal of the study is to examine developmental trajectories of alcohol use and other behavioral risks during the transition from high school to college, including high risk sexual behavior, aggression, driving after drinking, illicit drug use, and property crime. Differences in trajectories of behavioral risks likely result from a combination of developmental processes at the individual level and unique characteristics of the college environment.

I am currently testing comprehensive theoretical models of risk for heavy drinking and engagement in other behavioral risks, incorporating both individual and environmental influences. In addition to alcohol expectancies, personality characteristics (e.g. impulsivity), personal values, and social norms each contribute uniquely to engagement in a range of behavioral risks. We have also found that these risk factors account, at least in part, for heavier drinking among certain high-risk groups. For example, both personal values and alcohol expectancies mediate the relation between sexual orientation and drinking behavior. Social norms also appear to contribute to ethnic/racial group differences in drinking, with Caucasian students perceiving much heavier drinking by their peers relative to other racial/ethnic groups. One of the most important findings of this study is that the highest risk students in college appear to have carried this risk with them from high school; the heaviest drinkers upon entry into college remain the highest risk group throughout college. These findings highlight the importance of identifying and intervening with students who are already at risk upon entry into college.

Although the current longitudinal survey project is nearing completion, Dr. Fromme and I have already begun work on the competing renewal for this project. We hope to follow the same cohort of college students as they make the very important transition out of college. Reductions in alcohol use after college are well documented, but few studies have explicitly studied the factors that contribute to this “maturing out” process.