BOSTON, MA - Widespread binge drinking on America's college campuses is creating a public health problem with secondary effects that threaten the quality and safety of the college experience for millions of non binging students, according to a Harvard study to be published in the December 7 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. Physical assault, sexual harassment, and impaired sleep and study time are among what the researchers are calling "secondhand binge" effects experienced by non binging students as the result of the heavy drinking of their classmates.

The study is the first-ever report on undergraduate student drinking to use a national representative sample of colleges from which scientifically valid conclusions can be drawn. Conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health under a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the study examines the drinking behavior and ensuing health and social problems of 17,592 students attending 140 American four-year colleges in 40 states and the District of Columbia.

On campuses where binge drinking is rampant - that is, campuses where the binge drinking rate involves up to 70% of the student body - the vast majority of students who live at college (87%) have experienced one or more problems as a result of others' binge drinking, the researchers report. Even at schools where the binge drinking rate is below 35% of the student population, 62% of students who live at school have been victims of "secondhand binge" effects.

What is "binge drinking"?

For men binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks in a row one or more times during a two week period. For women, the definition is four or more drinks in a row one or more times during the same period. This study is the first of its scale to use this gender-specific measure. "Our study shows that in many students, this benchmark is indicative of a heavy drinking lifestyle. In reality, many students in our study report drinking far more than four or five drinks, often with the specific intention of getting drunk," said Henry Wechsler, PhD, principal investigator at the Harvard School of Public Health. "In addition, our research has documented that it takes four drinks for women to run the same risk of various alcohol-related health and behavior problems as men who have five drinks. These problems include getting into arguments and physical fights, and engaging in unplanned or unprotected sex."

Highlights of the findings

• Nearly half of all students (44%) were binge drinkers. Nearly 20% of all students were frequent binge drinkers, binging three or more times in the two weeks proceeding the study. The prevalence is highest among male and female students who live in fraternity and sorority houses. On a national scale, these numbers translate into a projected three million students who binge drink, including 1.3 million full-time college students who binge more than once a week.
• Colleges with high binge rates - that is, where more than 50% of students are binge drinkers - are nearly twice as likely to attract students who were binge drinkers in high school, compared to colleges where binge drinking is below 35%. Further, at high binge schools, nearly half of students who did not binge in high school take up binge drinking as college students. In contrast, at low binge colleges nearly half of student who were binge drinkers in high school give up this behavior as college students.
• Despite this country's investment in public education on drunk driving, college students remain at high risk. Fifty percent of frequent binge drinkers in the study had ridden with a driver who was drunk or high, and 40% of the males in this group had themselves driven a car after five or more drinks.

A new call to action

While there has been an overall decline in drinking in American society as a whole, recent studies have shown no similar decline among college students, according to Wechsler. Nor has there been anywhere near the decline seen in other young populations. In the last decade, binge drinking by high school seniors has dropped nine percent. Among 19-to-22-year-olds not attending college, the rate has dropped 10%. In striking contrast, there has been only a 2.6% decrease in binge drinking among college students.

"The discovery of secondhand binge effects uncovers a new call to action," said Katherine C. Lyall, PhD, president of the University of Wisconsin System and chairperson of the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study Advisory Board. "College administrators need to recognize that there are millions of silent victims who need proactive support from their schools. Non binging students need to understand that they have the right to demand a better campus environment and immediate intervention when binge drinking impinges on their education, health, and safety. Incoming students and their parents have the right to know about the drinking policies of colleges so they can consider these important factors when choosing a school. And, the media has a vital role to play in heightening the visibility of binge drinking as an underlying cause of student accidents and incidents in their reporting."

"The parallels to the anti-smoking movement in this country are striking," added Wechsler. "Data on the impact of secondhand smoke has shifted societal attitudes toward smoking from simply a concern for the problems smokers cause themselves, to alarm about the health risks smoking imposes on others. Non-smokers have been empowered to assert their rights, resulting in policies that protect public safety. The identification of secondhand binge effects provides the impetus for creating a national mindset in which student binge drinking will no longer be considered socially correct or acceptable.