Alcohol use and abuse are cause for concern because the educational process and quality of campus student life are disrupted. Abusive drinking can have serious consequences on all areas of college life, including economic, health, social and educational. Heavy alcohol use may result in personal injury, drunk driving, alcohol overdose, unplanned…

Background: Compared to links between alcohol and aggression, links between alcohol and vulnerability are poorly understood. Objectives: To determine whether there is a significant relationship between vulnerability to physical violence and alcohol consumption in adolescence independent of a relationship between alcohol consumption and violent…

Criminologists and politicians have debated the effectiveness of correctional rehabilitation programs since the mid-1970s when criminal justice scholars and policy makers throughout the United States embraced Robert Martinson's credo of "nothing works." Programs based around punishment and surveillance grew. They are being embraced even stronger…

The authors designed this study to evaluate the prevalence and magnitude of heavy drinking among college students in celebrating their 21st birthdays and the impact of a birthday card suggesting moderation. The authors randomly assigned subjects to receive or not receive the card approximately 1 week prior to their birthday. Approximately 1 week…

This study provides the first empirical investigation of Fatal Vision Goggles as a prevention tool aimed at changing attitudes toward drinking and driving. College students (N = 163) were randomly assigned to three groups: A control group, a group wearing the goggles, and a group of onlookers who were observing those wearing the goggles. Attitudes…

Although the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-3 (SASSI-3; F. G. Miller & L. E. Lazowski, 1999) is widely used with college students (L. Myerholtz & H. Rosenberg, 1998), it is unclear whether the SASSI-3 is appropriate for use with this population. The authors investigated the SASSI-3's psychometric capabilities in a college student…

Educators and researchers strive to use terms that reflect a replicable measure of behavior. A term commonly used to describe drinking of a problematic nature is "binge drinking". Binge drinking defines behavior by a number of drinks of an alcoholic beverage consumed in a space of time. The authors argue that the term does not describe drinking…

Religion plays a significant role in human life, yet its potential to influence health and health-related conditions is not well studied. This article cites several studies that examine the correlation between religiosity and substance abuse. This article also suggests that more systematic researches are needed to validate the correlation of…

The current study provides new information on the etiology of adolescent problem behaviors in African American youth by testing the importance of known predictors, namely parenting measures (monitoring, support, and communication), peers, and neighborhood characteristics across rural and non-rural developmental contexts. More specifically, the…

Building on the promise of interactive, multimedia education, this evaluation study examines an alcohol abuse prevention program, AlcoholEdu, delivered through an interactive Web-based format for the purpose of reducing the harm associated with student alcohol abuse. The study uses a clustered, randomly assigned post-test only evaluation design…

This paper outlines early findings from the Tasmanian-based Social Norms Analysis Project (SNAP). The Social Norms model is presented as a theoretically informed, evidence-based model for reducing alcohol-related harm in youthful populations by utilising the complex and often positive contributions peer groups make to adolescent health and…

In 3 studies, the authors developed and began to validate a measure of the propensity to act rashly in response to positive affective states (positive urgency). In Study 1, they developed a content-valid 14-item scale, showed that the measure was unidimensional, and showed that positive urgency was distinct from impulsivity-like constructs…

The transfer of knowledge, policy and practice between nations increasingly involves knowledge of the theory and practice of evaluation. This article examines issues arising from the transcultural evaluation of a drug and alcohol misuse knowledge and skills transfer programme for nurses, nurse teachers and medical staff in the narcology service in…

The current study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a mailed feedback and tips intervention as a universal prevention strategy for college drinking. Participants (N = 1,488) were randomly assigned to feedback or assessment-only control conditions. Results indicated that the mailed feedback intervention had a preventive effect on drinking…

The research literature on screening and brief intervention (SBI) for unhealthy alcohol use is large and diverse. More than 50 clinical trials and 9 systematic reviews have been published on SBI in a range of healthcare settings, and via a variety of delivery approaches, in general practice, hospital wards, emergency departments, addiction…