BOSTON, MA (January 5, 2001) — New findings from the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study indicate that college athletes have a higher rate of binge drinking, heavier alcohol use and experience a greater number of alcohol-related harms compared to their non-athlete peers, despite having more exposure to alcohol education programs. The findings, which for the first time take a national snapshot of rates of binge drinking among intercollegiate athletes, appear in the January 2001 issue (volume 33, number 1) of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
According to the study, male athletes were binge drinking 16 percent more--and female athletes 19 percent more--than their nonathletic counterparts. Binge drinkers are men who have had five or more--or women who have had four or more--drinks in a row at least once in the previous two weeks.
These findings are based on responses from the 1997 College Alcohol Study, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of 12,777 college students, including 2,172 intercollegiate athletes, from 130 four-year colleges and universities in 40 states. Harvard researchers also studied binge drinking on college campuses in 1993 and 1999, but this research focuses specifically on intercollegiate athletes. The research was funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
"Education alone is not enough to curb binge drinking among this population," said Toben F. Nelson, M.S., a Harvard School of Public Health doctoral student and the study's lead author. "There are simply too many other factors that strongly influence whether an athlete will binge drink."
Henry Wechsler, Ph.D., Principal Investigator of the study and Director of College Alcohol Studies at the Harvard School of Public Health, suggests that athletes may drink heavily in spite of their exposure to prevention programs because they are surrounded by a social environment conducive to binge drinking. College athletes are more likely to have a large number of friends who binge drink, place more importance on parties and sports, and spend two or more hours a day socializing. All of these factors are associated with higher rates of binge drinking among college students.
In addition, more athletes reported experiencing alcohol-related harms than nonathletes, such as academic problems and more antisocial behaviors--like damaging property and getting into trouble with the police.
"Coaches and college administrators should be aware of the social pressures on athletes and take further steps to help limit alcohol consumption for college athletes so that binge drinking doesn't continue to pose a threat to them and their peers," said Wechsler.
According to the study, findings show that there are several leverage points that can be used to discourage risky drinking among athletes. One method is to reinforce the motives athletes already express when they choose not to drink or limit their drinking. An example is that drinking can hinder athletic performance. A second leverage point is to intervene in the social culture that promotes binge drinking among athletes.
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