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(Forbes) Before the start of each academic year in higher education, there appear to be questions from incoming students and their families about how much college students drink alcohol.
According to the 2023 National College Health Assessment by the American College Health Association, 63.7% of college students in the survey reported using alcohol in their lifetime, and 57.7% reported using alcohol in the past 3 months. However, national surveys about alcohol use often have limitations, such relying on self-reports or not distinguishing between what type of alcohol is being used and in what context does the drinking occur.
Caroline Albritton Sahba is an Associate Director for Counseling and Mental Health at Texas Christian University (where I serve as the Director), and leads the Substance Use and Recovery Services on campus. Sahba commented, “No matter which survey results you read, the perception of use rarely matches the reality of self-reported substance use, especially alcohol.”
Sahba warned against misperceptions in the mainstream media that all college students drink alcohol. She stated, “This misperception can unfortunately mislead the student’s behavior: influencing them to drink earlier, more frequently, or more amounts than they may have if they had a more realistic perception of alcohol use on college campuses.” Sahba’s arguments are supported by research. According to a 2023 study in the journal of Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research, the drinking behavior of college students was related to the proportion of social network members who post alcohol-related social media content.