PREDICTING ACADEMIC PROBLEMS IN COLLEGE FROM FRESHMAN ALCOHOL INVOLVEMENT

Objective: The present article examines the relation of problematic al cohol use to collegiate academic problems based on a systematic assess ment of problematic alcohol use and college transcript data. The degre e to which this prospective association can be explained by reference to third variables is also explored. These third variables include: st udents' high school academic achievement and aptitude, concurrent drug use, participation in deviant behaviors and students' investment or p articipation in the college experience. Method: A sample of 444 (240 f emale) college freshman recruited for a longitudinal study of alcohol use was followed for 6 years. Alcohol and drug involvement, general de viance, academic investment, campus involvement and several background variables were assessed during the freshman year. Additional measures of high school aptitude and achievement as well as collegiate perform ance were calculated based on college transcript data from all institu tions attended. Results: A latent variable structural equation model r evealed that problematic alcohol use during the freshman year correlat ed +.32 with collegiate academic problems. No evidence was found for a unique association between the two constructs when additional constru cts were included in the model. Specifically, the association was subs tantially reduced when preexisting student differences traditionally a ssociated with academic failure in college were taken into account. Th e inclusion of concurrent drug use and deviance also resulted in a sig nificant reduction in the magnitude of the association. Conclusions: A lthough a substantial bivariate association exists between problematic alcohol use and academic problems during college, much of this associ ation appears attributable to preexisting student differences on admis sion to college.