2002 Alcohol and Other Drug Use Results

Provided below are results from Michigan State University's 2002 National College Health Assessment relating to alcohol and other drugs.

• Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Use Over the Past 30 Days
• AOD Use Over the Past 30 Days, by Background
• Perception of AOD Use of "Typical" Student
• Drinking Alcohol
• Drinking Responsibly
• Drinking Responsibly, by Background
• Drinking Consequences

The questionnaire included a series of questions on the use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. Respondents were asked to report the number of days they had used each of nine different categories of substances over the previous 30 days. The table to the right provides statistics for each of these categories. Overall:

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AOD Use Over the Past 30 Days, by Background

The overall percentages of respondents who reported using these various drugs one or two days in the previous month or three or more days. The table to the right also compares the percentages of respondents using these drugs one or more days by gender, race/ethnicity, campus residence, and cumulative GPA. Overall:

• Males were much more likely than females to report using alcohol and other drugs, having smoked cigars, and having used smokeless tobacco, but did not differ from females with respect to smoking cigarettes (at least once in the previous month).

• White respondents and those living off-campus were more likely than their respective counterparts to have drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days.

• Respondents claiming to have an “A” GPA were less likely than those with a “B” or “C” or less to have smoked cigarettes, and were much less likely to report having used marijuana. Additionally, students with a “C” or less GPA were more likely to use amphetamines and other drugs, as compared to students with higher GPA’s.

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Perception of AOD Use of "Typical" Student

Respondents were also asked to indicate whether they thought the “typical”student at MSU had never used each of these substances in the previous month, used each one or more days, or used each of these daily. The table to the right shows the results for these two sets of questions. To gauge the extent to which respondents see themselves as “typical” or the extent to which they may misperceive what the behavioral norm is at MSU, the table also indicates what percentage of respondents indicated they believed that the “typical” student used each of the drugs more often than they did personally. The table indicates that:

• Respondents, on all types of substances, tended to believe “typical” students were more likely to be more frequent users than they were themselves.

• Non-users and those who had not used substances in the past month were more likely than users to over-estimate typical use.

• 78.9% over-estimate cigarette usage,72.7% over-estimated marijuana usage, and 45.2% over-estimated even alcohol usage.

• While only 21.9% of respondents reported smoking cigarettes in the past month, 76.8% of respondents believed that more than 30% of their fellow students smoked in the past month. In fact, the average estimate among respondents was that 48% of their fellow students smoked in the previous month.

• 75.4% of respondents reported drinking alcohol in the previous month on at least one occasion. The average estimate among respondents was that 72.2% of their fellow students drank in the previous 30 days.

• While only 0.3% of respondents reported using Rohypnol at all in the previous month, 87.6% of respondents believed that more than 1% of their fellow students used these drugs in the previous month with 29.3% of the respondents believing that more than 10% of their fellow students used these drugs in the previous month.

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Drinking Alcohol

Respondents were asked to indicate for how many hours they drank alcohol the last time they “partied” and then the number of alcoholic drinks they consumed during this time.

• Respondents reported that they drank alcohol for an average of 3.22 hours (sd = 2.57) the last time they “partied.” During this time, on average, respondents reported consuming 5.08 alcoholic drinks (sd = 4.74). In fact, 61.9% of the respondents reported drinking five or fewer drinks the last time they “partied.”

• Males reported drinking an average of 6.61 drinks compared to females 3.82 drinks the last time they “partied.”

The questionnaire asked respondents to indicate how many times in the previous two weeks they had drunk the same amount of alcohol or more as they had indicated they consumed the last time they “partied.”

• 34.1% of the respondents reported that there were two or more occasions when they drank a comparable number of drinks in the two weeks prior to completing the survey.

• Those who reported more occasions in that time period also reported having consumed greater numbers of drinks.

Respondents were also asked to indicate how many alcoholic drinks they thought the “typical” MSU student had the last time he or she partied.

• More than 75% of the respondents thought that the “typical” student at MSU drank four or more alcoholic drinks the last time he/she “partied.” The average number of drinks respondents believed the “typical” student drank was 6.31 (sd = 3.37) and 27.9% of the respondents thought the “typical” student drank between 7 and 20 drinks the last time he/she partied.

• 61.2% of the respondents perceived that the “typical” student at MSU consumes more drinks than they do personally.

• Younger respondents tended to believe that students typically consume greater numbers of drinks. There was not a significant correlation between GPA and the number of drinks believed to be consumed by typical students.

The questionnaire asked respondents how many times in the previous two weeks they had drunk five or more alcoholic drinks at a sitting. The survey found that:

• 44.7% of respondents claimed to have had five or more alcoholic drinks at a sitting at least once in the previous two weeks with 6.3% of respondents claiming to have done it five or more times.

• 56.3% claimed not to have done it at all.

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Drinking Responsibly, by Background

The survey also compares the responses to these based on gender, race, age, residence location, GPA, and membership in Greek organizations. The results reveal the percentage of respondents who said they always or usually do the various responsible drinking steps. The table indicates that:

• Females were more likely than males to report always or usually alternating non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, choosing not to drink at all, using a designated driver, having a friend tell them when they have had enough, keep track of the drinks they have had, and to pace themselves to consume no more than one drink per hour.

• White respondents were less likely than their counterparts to determine a limit on the number of drinks to have in advance, to chose not to drink, to have a friend tell them when they’ve had enough, to keep track of how many drinks they’ve had, and to drink alcohol look-alike beverages.

• However, white respondents were more likely to use a designated driver.

• Younger respondents were less likely to avoid drinking games and to pace their drinking to one drink per hour or less, but they were more likely than their older counterparts to use a designated driver. Respondents ages 22-23 were least likely to alternate alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, to chose not to drink, and to use a designated driver.

• Respondents living on-campus were more likely than their off-campus counterparts to report choosing not to drink, using a designated driver, to have a friend tell them when they have had enough, and to keep track of the number of drinks they have consumed. On the other hand, they were less likely to avoid drinking games and to pace themselves to consume no more than one drink per hour.

• Respondents with “B” grade point averages were less likely than those with higher or lower GPA’s to avoid drinking games. This was the only significant difference in this table based on grade point average.

• Members of fraternities or sororities were less likely to keep track of the number of drinks they have consumed and much less likely to avoid drinking games.

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Alcohol Consequences

The questionnaire asked respondents to indicate if they had experienced, at least once, any of seven different undesirable events during the last school year as a consequence of their drinking. The table to the right shows the results for each of these events. The table shows the percentage of respondents who drink at least sometimes who reported that the event in question did happen to them during the last school year. The table also compares the likelihood of experiencing these events by gender, race/ethnicity, age group, residence location, GPA, and membership in a Greek organization. The table indicates that:

• 42.5% of the respondents reported having done something when drinking that they later regretted; more than a third (36.4%) reported at least once having drunk to the point where they did not know where they were or what they did; nearly a quarter (21.6%) reported having injured themselves at least once as a consequence of their drinking; and more than one in five (21.1%) reported having had unprotected sex as a consequence of their drinking.

• Males were more likely than females to report having injured another person, having been in a fight, and to have forgotten where they were as a result of drinking.

• Whites were more likely to report injuring themselves and forgetting where they were as a result of drinking.

• Younger respondents who drink were more likely to report being injured, injuring others, being involved in a fight, and forgetting where they were or what they did. However, respondents ages 22-23 were most likely to report doing something they later regretted and having unprotected sex as a result of drinking.

• Off-campus respondents were more likely to report engaging in unprotected sex as a result of drinking.

• Members of fraternities or sororities were more likely to report being involved in a fight, doing something they later regretted, forgetting where they were/what they were doing, and engaging in unprotected sex as a result of drinking.

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