BOSTON, MA, July 2, 1999 -- College students who have serious alcohol problems and engage in dangerous behaviors are more likely to have guns with them at school, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health
th. The study is published in the July issue of The Journal of American College Health. The study, based on a nationally representative sample of more than 15,000 students at 130 four-year colleges, found that students arrested for driving under the influ
ence are twice as likely to have guns, compared to students who have not been so arrested. Gun possession at college is also significantly more likely among students who drink five or more alcoholic beverages in a row, damage property as a result of alcoh
ol ingestion, need an alcoholic drink to start the day, and get injured in alcohol-related fights or car crashes.
"We found a worrisome association between handgun possession at college and serious alcohol related problems," said Matthew Miller, MD, MPH, ScD, and Senior Research Scientist at the Harvard Injury Research and Control Center, who is the first autho
r of the study. "These findings hold, even when gender, region, and membership in fraternities or sororities are taken into account."
Other authors of the report are David Hemenway, Ph.D., and Henry Wechsler, Ph.D., both of Harvard. Hemenway is director of the Harvard Injury Research and Control Center. Wechsler is the principal investigator of the Harvard School of Public Health
College Alcohol Study (CAS), which examines alcohol consumption, especially binge drinking, on college campuses.
The CAS survey provided the data for this study. In that survey, students were asked: "Do you have a working firearm with you at college?" Respondents chose among the following three answers: "No;" "Yes, a handgun;" or "Yes, a semi-automatic." Becau
se semi-automatics generally refer to handguns, answering "Yes" to either choice was calculated as a positive response to having a handgun at school. The survey also asked students detailed information about drinking behavior, about the extent to which st
udents experienced specific problems as a consequence of drinking, and about other behavioral and health-related issues.
Among male students who either get arrested for DUI, drive after drinking five or more drinks in a row, or damage property after heavy episodic drinking, seven percent have guns, compared to three percent of those who had not engaged in these behavi
ors, according to the study. The study also found a "robust association" between gun ownership and a marker of more chronic alcohol dependence: "needing an alcoholic drink in the morning."
"We've learned that drinking and driving don't mix," said Wechsler. "Alcohol and firearms are also a dangerous combination. This study shows that students with serious alcohol problems are more likely to have guns at college. The combination of alco
hol dependency or irresponsible behavior with higher levels of gun possession could have some disastrous consequences."
"Damaging property when intoxicated suggests an inability to contain aggressive impulses," said Miller. "Driving after heavy episodic drinking or being arrested for drunk-driving suggest poor judgment and indifference to the potentially injurious ef
fects one's actions may have on others. Compared to students who don't have these problems, a higher percentage of students with these drinking problems have guns. To me, that's not a comforting correlation. The association between gun possession and irre
sponsible drinking behavior may put not only the drinker, but also other students at risk of injury."
The Harvard study found that 6.4 percent of male students and 1.5 percent of female students report having a working firearm at college. Overall, 3.5 percent of students have guns at school, two-thirds of whom live off campus. There are 8.8 million
students currently enrolled in four-year American colleges and an additional 5.5 million who attend two-year colleges. According to the study, most colleges have policies that do not permit gun possession on campus.
The study found gun possession at college was more common among white than among African-American or Asian students and among students who were members of fraternities or sororities. Students attending college in the South or in the West were also m
ore likely to have guns at school than were students attending college in the Northeast. Two-thirds of students with guns live off-campus. Of all students with guns at school, 66 percent are between 17 and 23 years old.
"We know that behaviors that put individuals at risk for injury often go together," said Hemenway. "For example, people who drink heavily also tend not to wear seat belts. It has been suggested that the aggregation within an individual of risky beha
viors reflects an attitude towards risk, which may partly explain why those college students also own guns."
The Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study is funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study website address is: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas.
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