Highlights from the First
National Comparison of Alcohol Use among U.S. and Canadian College Students
Newly released research provides the first national comparison of college
students' drinking habits in the United States and Canada, and finds that
while more Canadian students drink, American students drink more heavily.
This study is published in the December 2002 issue of the journal, Addiction.
The study is based on the 1999 College Alcohol Study, conducted by the
Harvard School of Public Health and the 1998 Canadian Campus Survey, conducted
by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, based out of Toronto. Today's
findings compare the responses of 12,344 American and 6,729 Canadian randomly-selected
students under 25 years of age.
Findings:
The prevalence of lifetime alcohol use (92% vs. 86%) and past year alcohol
use (87% vs. 81%) is significantly higher among Canadian than U.S. students.
American students, when compared to Canadian students, had higher rates
of heavy alcohol use in the past year (41% vs. 35%) and past week (54%
vs. 42%).
American male students are also more likely to engage in heavy alcohol
use than American female students, while gender difference is not significant
in heavy alcohol use among Canadian students.
The rate of heavy alcohol use among students living at home with their
parents in Canada (26%) and the United States (18%) is lower than the
rates among students who live on campus (41% and 35%). Although, living
with parents reduced heavy drinking more among American students than
Canadian students.
The rate of heavy alcohol use among underage students in Canada (43%)
and the United States (35%) is greater than the rates among legal-aged
students (29% and 30%). The drinking age in Canada is 18 or 19 years of
age (depending on the province). The drinking age in the United States
is 21 years of age. However, in both countries heavy alcohol use is more
prevalent among students age 20 or less.
For both countries, heavy alcohol use is more prevalent among college
students who report first drunkenness before the age of 16.
Conclusions:
Programs aimed at students' heavy alcohol use should target freshmen
at entry to college or earlier.
Since students living with their parents are less likely to be heavy
drinkers, parents may play a potentially important role in prevention
efforts.
The patterns of drinking in both countries may be influenced by the legal
minimum drinking age, but the relationship is complex. Irrespective of
the legal drinking age, younger students are more likely to engage in
heavy alcohol use than older students in both countries.
The study points out the need for additional research to answer the following
questions:
- Why is the difference in alcohol use between male and female college
students less significant in Canada than in the United States?
- How does living at home during the college years affect drinking behavior
differently in the United States and Canada?
- What differences in price, alcohol marketing, and alcohol-related
policies are there in the United States and Canada?
- What differences are there in public verses private institutions,
fraternities/sororities, and the policy environments in the United States
and Canada?
"Our results provide new insight to the potential cross-national
differences on important issues, like the gender gap in drinking, and
the protective role parents may play. These findings could be used to
advance research on heavy drinking in campuses across North America,"
said Dr. Henry Wechsler, principal investigator of the Harvard School
of Public Health College Alcohol Study.
According to co-author Edward Adlaf of the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health, "We now know that simple comparisons between the United States
and Canada will likely mask important differences given the very different
composition of American versus Canadian students."
The lead author of the article, "More Canadian Students Drink But
American Students Drink More: Comparing College Alcohol Use in Two Countries,"
is Meichun Kuo, Sc.D. Co-authors include Edward Adlaf, Ph.D.; Hang Lee,
Ph.D.; Andree Demers, Ph.D.; and Henry Wechsler, Ph.D.
Additional information on the Harvard School of Public Health College
Alcohol Study can be found at: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas.
Additional information on the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health can
be found at: http://www.camh.net.
For more information, contact:
Amanda Franks and Dionne Dougall
Burness Communications
(301) 652-1558
Anne Ptasznik
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
(416) 595-6015
|
1-800-463-6273
