CORRELATES OF COLLEGE-STUDENT BINGE DRINKING

Objectives. This study examines the individual correlates of college s tudent binge drinking. Methods. Questionnaires were completed by a rep resentative national sample (n = 17592) of students on 140 campuses in 1993. Binge drinking was defined as five or more drinks per episode f or men and as four or more drinks per episode for women. Results. Over all, 44% of the students (50% of the men and 39% of the women) binged. While demographic factors such as sex and race were significantly rel ated to binge drinking, prior binging in high school was crucial, sugg esting that for many students, binge drinking begins before college. T he strongest predictors of college binge drinking were residence in a fraternity or sorority, adoption of a party-centered lifestyle, and en gagement in other risky behaviors. Conclusions. Interventions must be targeted at high school binge drinking as well as at several character istics of college life-most notably fraternity residence. Legal drinki ng age fails to predict binge drinking, raising questions about the ef fectiveness of the legal minimum drinking age of 21 in college alcohol policies.