Document Type
Article - post-print
Publication Date
2007
Abstract
Problematic drinking among college students remains a national issue with large percentages of college students reporting heavy episodic or binge drinking (Wechsler, Dowdall, Davenport, & Castillo, 1995) and experiencing severe alcohol-related consequences ranging from poor academic performance, to sexual assault, vandalism, and even death (Hingson, Heeren, Winter, & Wechsler, 2005; Wechsler et al., 2002). According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA, 2002), the first 6 weeks on a college campus are critical to first-year student success. However, during these first weeks many students initiate heavy drinking that may interfere with their ability to adapt to campus life, and patterns of drinking established during these first weeks persist throughout college (Schulenberg et al., 2001). Approximately one third of first-year students fail to enroll for their second year due to difficulties with the transition to college (Upcraft, 1995). Drinking may compromise successful negotiation of the transition into college and therefore jeopardize overall collegiate success. Therefore, the ability to identify specific students as they enter college who may develop problematic drinking patterns and related negative consequences would allow student affairs personnel to more effectively design and target risk-reduction programs and interventions.
Publisher Statement
This is an author-manuscript of an article accepted for publication in Journal of College Student Development. The published version of this record is available online at doi: http://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2007.0026.
Recommended Citation
LaBrie, J. W., Huchting, K., Pedersen, E. R., Hummer, J. F., Shelesky, K., & Tawalbeh, S. (2007). Female College Drinking and the Social Learning Theory: An Examination of the Developmental Transition Period from High School to College. Journal of College Student Development, 48(3), 344–356. http://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2007.0026
