Date of Award

2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Katherine Novak

Abstract

Within the United States, high risk and dangerous binge drinking is one of the greatest public health concerns facing college students and college campuses. Additionally, subsequent alcohol-related consequences, including but not limited to, physical violence, sexual assault, and risky sexual behavior have significant impacts on the experience of undergraduate students. With such high-risk consequences, it is imperative that binge drinking and alcohol-related consequence trends are known and understood. As such, the Indiana College Substance Use Survey (ICSUS) was developed by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at Indiana University to gain a broad understanding of substance use among university undergraduates. In a more in-depth analysis of data collected from 428 Butler University students in 2014, the current study examines the relationship between gender, class standing, Greek membership, and mental health and the number and severity of alcohol-related consequences, as well as the specific individual alcohol consequences experienced by students.

It was found that males and Greek-affiliated individuals were significantly more likely to experience alcohol-related consequences, though this significance was eliminated when binge drinking among groups was held constant. Additionally, first year students were not found to be at greatest risk for experiencing alcohol-related consequences, as this risk increased as class standing increased, a relationship that also lost significance once binge drinking levels were held constant. Mental health was found to have no significant relationship with one’s likelihood of experiencing alcohol-related consequences. The relationships between key independent variables and alcohol-related consequences varied within individual consequences.

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