July 24, 2003
An Open Letter to College Administrators and Prevention Professionals
The findings of a study released today by the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study indicate that a popular program at many colleges to reduce alcohol consumption, social norms marketing, is not associated with significant decreases in drinking behavior. Drinking actually increased on some measures at schools that implemented these programs. To many working hard at prevention, this will be disheartening news.
Nevertheless, this research fills an important gap in our knowledge about prevention programs.
In 1998, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism formed a task force on college drinking to investigate what to do about this serious public health problem. The report from that task force, A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges, released in Spring of 2002, identified social norms marketing as having promise as an intervention to reduce student drinking, while recommending further research to evaluate its effectiveness. This study was conducted to accomplish that goal.
Undoubtedly the results of our study will be met with strong reactions from those substance abuse professionals and educators who believe strongly in the social norms marketing technique. We urge them to read our findings carefully. Our research is by no means the final word on this topic, but it should raise questions about the widespread adoption of these programs in their current form, and the heavy investment of federal and alcohol industry dollars in these programs. Our study should encourage colleges, and the communities where they are located, to look beyond social norms approaches as the answer to the complex problem of heavy alcohol use by college students.
A wide variety of interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in curbing heavy alcohol consumption and the problems that result. The NIAAA report provides a summary of the existing evidence on interventions conducted at colleges and recommendations for future strategies.
The report can be located on the Internet at http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has also issued a report that provides a summary of existing evidence on alcohol control policies and other environmental interventions.
It can be located on the Internet at http://www.health.org/govpubs/PHD822/aar.aspx
In the coming months the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies will be making its recommendations about approaches to reduce and prevent underage drinking. This report will appear on the Internet at http://www.nationalacademies.org/
Many of the interventions recommended in these reports are politically difficult to implement. Not all will be feasible in a given setting. Some students, administrators, communities and the alcohol industry are likely to resist. Yet it is important to continue efforts to address this serious problem. Alcohol abuse is a leading cause of death and serious injury in the United States. College students as a group are among the heaviest drinkers and they experience serious social and health consequences as a result. By implementing new approaches and rigorously evaluating them we can understand how to prevent the destructive effects of alcohol on young people.
Sincerely,
Henry Wechsler, Ph.D.
Director
College Alcohol Study
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