| Addiction Exchange News from the worlds of research and clinical practice Volume 3, No. 10: Alcohol and Substance Use at North Carolina HBCUs June 21, 2001 Brought to you by FAX, email, and on the web by the Mid-Atlantic Addiction Technology Transfer Center Funded by Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, SAMHSA Welcome to Addiction Exchange, a forum for the exchange of clinical practice and research information among clinicians, scientists, educators, and administrators in the area of addiction. Today’s topic by guest author Sherrye C. Fowler, MSW, of the North Carolina Governor's Institute on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Inc., concerns a recent study of alcohol and substance use at North Carolina historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The study’s results thus far confirm previous studies’ findings, that substance abuse is generally lower among black college students than their white peers. Regular marijuana use, however, was reported by a large number of students at the HBCUs. The use of alcohol and drugs on the campuses of American colleges and universities has been of interest to researchers for many years. The majority of findings suggest that drinking leads to social and interpersonal difficulties as a function of demographic characteristics, but few studies have explored this hypothesis directly. Although many college students report some experimentation with alcohol and drugs during their post-secondary education, the vast majority do not report significant negative consequences (psychosocial or legal) unless their pattern of use falls into the binge drinking or excessive use categories. More recently, there has been a growing interest in evaluating these recognized patterns of alcohol use and consequences in African American and other minority populations as compared with their Caucasian counterparts. This comparison will help practitioners and researchers more effectively target alcohol and drug prevention and treatment resources. The NC HBCU Alcohol and Substance Use Assessment Initiative, a study supported by the Mid-Atlantic Technology Transfer Center and the North Carolina Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Substance Abuse Consortium, addresses these interests. The initiative represents one of the first large studies to investigate alcohol and drug use on the campuses of HBCUs and to explore thoroughly how African Americans use and are affected by alcohol and illicit drugs. The study is being conducted in two phases. The first phase consists of administering the survey instrument (Core Alcohol and Drug Survey) and a brief demographic questionnaire. Results are then analyzed and reported with researchers and administrators working together to determine the implications for the institutions. The second phase consists of assisting each institution in implementing tailored recommendations. These recommendations will be essential in each HBCU, addressing the nature of alcohol and other substance use related problems on their respective campuses. To date, three HBCUs in North Carolina, Winston-Salem State University, NC A&T State University, and Johnson C. Smith University, have been surveyed, resulting in 1,587 useable datasets. The remaining seven schools will be surveyed this spring. Students' ages ranged from 18-53 (average 20.04 4.23) with no significant difference between the ages of male (20.27 .18) and female (19.92 .14) subjects. Eighty-two percent (1,337) of the sample is African American. Results confirmed previous studies, which indicated that African American college students are less likely to engage in binge and frequent drinking behaviors as compared to students at majority institutions. Preliminary findings suggest that the prevalence rate of binge drinking at these three HBCUs (10.1% for males and 7.8% for females) is substantially lower than the rates recently reported by the1999 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (42.7% for males and 21% for females). It is also clear from the current results that the vast majority of students are not drinking or using drugs in a manner that results in significant or frequent negative consequences, such as loss of property or confrontations with the law. A considerably larger number of students, however, do appear to be using marijuana on a regular basis. Interestingly, these students consistently overestimate marijuana use among their peers. Based on these preliminary findings, researchers prepared a final report for each site, providing site-specific recommendations. These recommendations are designed to maintain stability and progress in areas where there does not appear to be a significant problem with alcohol or drugs, while targeting specific areas that need remediation. The recommendations cover the entire scope of student experience, from changing administrative policies and guidelines to influencing individual student behaviors, with implications for policy, enforcement, education of faculty, staff, and students, training of health professionals, creation of intervention programs, and sponsoring of alcohol-free housing and special events. Further information about the study can be found at http://www.Euthenics21.com or contact Sherrye Fowler at (919) 990-9559 or sfowl@mindspring.com. Go to http://www.mid-attc.org/wwwboard/wwwboard.shtml to discuss this topic on the Addiction Exchange Forum. We hope you find Addiction Exchange useful in your work. Please let us know about your information needs by emailing the editor of Addiction Exchange at mid-attc@mindspring.com, or discuss your training needs by contacting us by email or telephone at (804)-828-9910. Visit the Mid-ATTC website at http://www.mid-attc.org. Please copy and distribute to your colleagues and students!!!!
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