Articles by Year - 2006

The American College Health Association. (2006). "American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) Spring 2004 Reference Group Data Report (Abridged)." Journal of American College Health, 54(4): 201-211. go to summary

Bohner, G., Siebler, F., Schmelcher, J. (2006). "Social Norms and the Likelihood of Raping: Perceived Rape Myth Acceptance of Others Affects Men's Rape Proclivity." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(3):286-297. go to excerpt

Boyle, J.R., Boekeloo, B.O. (2006). "Perceived Parental Approval of Drinking and its Impact on Problem Drinking Behaviors among First-Year College Students." Journal of American College Health, 54(4): 238-244. go to summary

Cameron, Kenzie A. and Campo, Shelly. (2006). "Stepping Back from Social Norms Campaigns: Comparing Normative Influences to Other Predictors of Health Behaviors". Health Communication, 20: (3) 277-288. go to summary

Chia, S.C., Gunther, A.C. (2006). "How Media Contribute to Misperceptions of Social Norms About Sex." Mass Communication and Society, 9(3): 301-320. go to summary

Cho, H. (2006). "Readiness to change, norms, and self-efficacy among heavy-drinking college students." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(1): 131-138. go to summary

Corral-Verdugo, V. and Frias-Armenta, Martha. (2006). "Personal Normative Beliefs, Antisocial Behavior, and Residential Water Conservation." Environment and Behavior, 38(3):406-421. go to summary

DeJong, W., Schneider, S.K., Towvim, L.G., Murphy, M.J., Doerr, E.E., Simonsen, N.R., Mason, K.E., and Scribner, R.A. (2006). " A Multisite Randomized Trial of Social Norms Marketing Campaigns to Reduce College Student Drinking." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(6): 868-879. go to summary

Gunther, A., Bolt, D., Borzekowski, G., Liebhart, J. Price Dillard, J. (2006). "Presumed Influence on Peer Norms: How Mass Media Indirectly Affect Adolescent Smoking." Journal of Communication, 56(1):52-68. go to summary

Haines, M.P., Barker, G., Rice, R. (2006). "The Personal Protective Behaviors of College Student Drinkers: Evidence of Indigenous Protective Norms." Journal of American College Health, 55(2):69-75. go to summary

Kilmer, J.R., Walker, D.D., Lee, C.M., Palmer, R.S., Mallett, K.A., Fabiano, P., and Larimer, M.E. (2006). "Misperceptions of College Student Marijuana Use: Implications for Prevention." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(2): 277-281. go to summary

LaBrie, J.W., Lamb, T.F., Pedersen, E.R., and Quinlan, T. (2006). "A Group Motivational Interviewing Intervention Reduces Drinking and Alcohol-Related Consequences in Adjudicated College Students " Journal of College Student Development, 47(3): 267-280. go to summary

Lewis, M.A., Neighbors, C. (2006). "Social Norms Approaches Using Descriptive Drinking Norms Education: A Review of the Research on Personalized Normative Feedback," Journal of American College Health, 54(4): 213-218. go to summary

Linkenbach, J., Perkins, H.W. (2006). "Montana's MOST of Us Don't Drink and Drive Campaign: A Social Norms Strategy to Reduce Impaired Driving Among 21-34-Year-Olds." National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Publication: DOT HS 809 869. go to summary

Mallett, K., Lee, C.M., Neighbors, C., Larimer, M.E., and Turrisi, R. (2006). "Do We Learn from Our Mistakes? An Examination of the Impact of Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences on College Students' Drinking Patterns and Perceptions." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(2): 269-276. go to summary

Neighbors, C., Dillard, A.J., Lewis, M.A., Bergstrom, R.L., and Neil, T.A. (2006). "Normative Misperceptions and Temporal Precedence of Perceived Norms and Drinking." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(2): 290-299. go to summary

Neighbors, C., Lewis, M.A., Bergstrom, R.L, Larimer, M.E. (2006). "Being Controlled by Normative Influences: Self-Determination as a Moderator of a Normative Feedback Alcohol Intervention." Health Psychology, 25(5):571-579. go to summary

Neighbors, C., Oster-Aaland, L., Bergstrom, R.L., and Lewis, M.A. (2006). "Event- and Context-Specific Normative Misperceptions and High-Risk Drinking: 21st Birthday Celebrations and Football Tailgating." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(2): 282-289. go to summary

Perkins, H.W. and Craig, D.W. (2006). "A Successful Social Norms Campaign to Reduce Alcohol Misuse Among College Student-Athletes." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(6): 868-879. go to summary

Peterson, J.L., and Bakeman, R. (2006). "Impact of Beliefs about HIV Treatment and Peer Condom Norms on Risky Sexual Behavior among Gay and Bisexual Men." Journal of Community Psychology, 34(1):37-46. go to summary

Smith, S., Atkin, C., Martell, D., Allen, R., Hembroff, L. (2006). "A Social Judgment Theory Approach to Conducting Formative Research in a Social Norms Campaign." Communication Theory, 16:141-152. go to summary

Weiss J. W, Garbanati J.A. (2006). " Effects of acculturation and social norms on adolescent smoking among asian-american subgroups." Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 5(2):75-90. go to summary

Wight, D., Plummer, M.L., Mshana, G., et al. (2006). "Contradictory Sexual Norms and Expectations for Young People in Rural Northern Tanzania." Social Science and Medicine, 6:987-997. go to summary

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The American College Health Association. (2006). "American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) Spring 2004 Reference Group Data Report (Abridged)." Journal of American College Health, 54(4): 201-211. return to list

Abstract:
Assessing and understanding the health needs and capacities of college students is paramount to creating healthy campus communities. The American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) is a survey instrument developed by the NCHA in 1998 to assist institutions of higher education in achieving this goal. The ACHA-NCHA contains approximately 300 questions assessing student health status and health problems, risk and protective behaviors, access to health information, impediments to academic performance, and perceived norms across a variety of content areas, including injury prevention; personal safety and violence; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; sexual health; weight, nutrition, and exercise; and mental health. Twice a year, the ACHA compiles aggregate data from participating institutions in a reference group report for data comparison. Results from the Spring 2004 Reference Group (N = 47,202) are presented in this article."

Bohner, G., Siebler, F., Schmelcher, J. (2006). "Social Norms and the Likelihood of Raping: Perceived Rape Myth Acceptance of Others Affects Men's Rape Proclivity." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(3):286-297. return to list

Excerpt [p. 293]:
"The current research further corroborates the role of rape myths as a factor facilitating sexual aggression. Taken together, our findings suggest that salient ingroup norms may be important determinants of the professed willingness to engage in sexually aggressive behavior. Our studies go beyond quasi-experimental and correlational work that had shown a close relationship between RMA [rape myth acceptance] and rape proclivity (RP) as well as our own previous experimental studies, which have shown that individual's RMA to causally affect RP. They demonstrate that salient information about others' RMA may cause differences in men's self-reported proclivity to exert sexual violence. Experiment 1 provides additional evidence on how this influence is mediated: It shows that the perceived RMA of others may increase or lower men's rape proclivity by temporarily increasing or lowering their own RMA. In Experiment 2, where own RMA was assessed before participants were exposed to RMA feedback, both independent and interactive effects of the two variables on self-reported rape proclivity were observed. Thus, our studies confirm that RMA may indeed function as a social norm as originally conceived by Burt (1980)."

Boyle, J.R., Boekeloo, B.O. (2006). "Perceived Parental Approval of Drinking and its Impact on Problem Drinking Behaviors among First-Year College Students." Journal of American College Health, 54(4): 238-244. return to list

Abstract:
There is a paucity of research investigating the impact that parents may have on college drinking. In this study, the authors investigated the relationship between students' perceptions of parent approval of drinking and problem drinking occurrence. They conducted a Web-based survey of 265 first-year students living on campus during their second semester. The authors used logistic regression to examine the relationship between students' perceptions of their mothers' and fathers' attitudes toward their drinking, their mothers' and fathers' drinking habits, and problem drinking since they had begun college. Sixty-nine percent of respondents reported experiencing at least one drinking problem. Over one-third of students perceived that their parents would approve of them drinking occasionally. Students perceiving more parental approval for their drinking were more likely to report at least one drinking problem. Student perceptions of parental approval of drinking warrant further investigation as a potentially mutable correlate of problem drinking.

Cameron, Kenzie A. and Campo, Shelly. (2006). "Stepping Back from Social Norms Campaigns: Comparing Normative Influences to Other Predictors of Health Behaviors". Health Communication, 20(3): 277-288. return to list

Objective:
This study was conducted to assess the relationships among sociodemographics, normative perceptions, and individual attitudes on alcohol consumption, smoking, and exercise behavior. The study also examined the influence of normative judgments as compared to other influences on college students’ health behaviors.
Method:
Students at two universities (N=393) completed timed questionnaires in groups for extra credit or course credit. Six different versions of the questionnaire were distributed and students responded to 2 of 3 health topics. The questionnaire consisted of measures of the participants’ own behaviors related to alcohol use, smoking, and/or exercise; normative judgments of other undergraduates’ attitudes and behaviors; and scales assessing their attitudes towards their own health behaviors as well as their attitudes toward other undergraduates’ behaviors. The survey also collected the respondents’ sociodemographic information to judge how these variables related to their consumption of alcohol, tobacco use, and exercise behaviors.
Results:
Regressions indicated that sociodemographics, normative perceptions, and individual attitudinal influences were associated with behavior, but varied independent variables emerged as the salient predictors among behaviors. Liking to engage in a particular behavior and participant sex were the only predictors that remained consistent across positive and negative health behaviors. In several conditions, the effect of normative perceptions on behaviors was not significant, a finding in direct opposition to social norms marketing. A variance in the influence of different normative judgments may account for some of the mixed outcomes in social norms studies, as they typically target only one normative judgment.
Conclusions:
The study questioned the effects of social norms campaigns and stated that although some social norms marketing may be meeting with success, it may be the case that predicted attitudinal and behavioral changes will not be found when applied across diverse health topics. The authors claim that a social norms approach assumes attitude and behavior change are influenced by one’s perception of others’ attitudes and behavior. They point to several persuasion theories which suggest that one’s own attitudes influence behaviors (Ajzen, 1985, Kim and Hunter, 1993) and note that we are not always motivated to comply with what others think we should do. The authors advocate measuring multiple specific normative judgments and attitudes.
Implications for the Field:
The authors believe that social norms campaigns should include attitude measurements towards others’ attitude or behavior, one’s attitudes toward the behavior itself, attitudes related to one’s liking of participating in the specific behavior, and attitudes related to the healthiness of the behavior to increase the context specificity of the attitudinal measurement. The study alludes that for behavioral intervention campaigns to meet with success, we must learn how best to influence individuals’ predilection for behaviors, both healthy behaviors we wish to encourage and unhealthy behaviors we wish to diminish. Although normative judgments may have some effect on college students’ health behaviors, the authors believe that they are neither consistent nor the optimal predictors of such behaviors.

Chia, S.C., Gunther, A.C. (2006). "How Media Contribute to Misperceptions of Social Norms About Sex." Mass Communication and Society, 9(3): 301-320. return to list

Abstract:
In this study we examined how media contribute to college students' erroneous perceptions of peer norms and the consequence of such misperceptions. The data came from a survey of 312 college students. Results indicate that students believed that their peers were significantly more sexually permissive than was actually the case. The data suggested that they formed such erroneous impressions of peers based in part on their perceptions of media influence on peers. Some evidence also indicated that these misperceptions produced a significant impact on male college students, making them more likely to say they would engage in casual sexual activity and engage in it at an earlier stage in dating.

Cho, H. (2006). "Readiness to change, norms, and self-efficacy among heavy-drinking college students." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(1): 131-138. return to list

Abstract:
Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the readiness to change of college heavy drinkers and their normative and self-efficacy beliefs. Method: A multiple regression model analyzed the association in a heavy-drinker subsample (n = 306; men = 53.3%) drawn from a survey of a convenience sample of college students in two large-size midwestern universities. Results: Precontemplation was most strongly associated with the descriptive and injunctive norms of campus peers as well as friends. Contemplation was significantly associated with descriptive and injunctive norms of friends. The size of the association between readiness and normative beliefs decreased as the readiness progressed. Both precontemplation and contemplation were negatively associated with self-efficacy. Conclusions: Differences in readiness to change are related to different normative and self-efficacy beliefs to different degrees. Incorporating these differences could improve the effectiveness of future interventions. In particular, addressing friends' norms in addition to campus norms could increase self-efficacy and facilitate the behavioral change process of college heavy drinkers.

Corral-Verdugo, V. and Frias-Armenta, Martha. (2006). "Personal Normative Beliefs, Antisocial Behavior, and Residential Water Conservation." Environment and Behavior, 38(3):406-421. return to list

Abstract:
A total of 177 residents in two Mexican cities responded to an instrument assessing (a) personal normative beliefs about water conservation, (b) beliefs about the efficacy of water conservation laws, (c) the tendency to break social norms (anti-social behavior), and (d) private water conservation behavior (self-reported). The data were processed within a structural equation model that specified the above effects. Results showed that personal normative beliefs had a positive effect on water conservation, whereas antisocial behavior inhibited that conservation, and beliefs in the inefficacy of water conservation laws produced no effect on water conservation practices. Significant and negative covariances between antisocial behavior and normative beliefs in the inefficacy of water consumption laws resulted. Conversely, normative beliefs and beliefs in the inefficacy of water laws covaried positively.

DeJong, W., Schneider, S.K., Towvim, L.G., Murphy, M.J., Doerr, E.E., Simonsen, N.R., Mason, K.E., and Scribner, R.A. (2006). " A Multisite Randomized Trial of Social Norms Marketing Campaigns to Reduce College Student Drinking." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(6): 868-879. return to list

Abstract:
Objective: An 18-site randomized trial was conducted to determine the effectiveness of social norms marketing (SNM) campaigns in reducing college student drinking. The SNM campaigns are intended to correct misperceptions of subjective drinking norms and thereby drive down alcohol consumption.
Method:
Institutions of higher education were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. At the treatment group institutions, SNM campaigns delivered school-specific, data-driven messages through a mix of campus media venues. Cross-sectional student surveys were conducted by mail at baseline (n = 2,771) and at posttest 3 years later (n = 2,939). Hierarchical linear modeling was applied to examine multiple drinking outcomes, taking intraclass correlation into account.
Results:
Controlling for other predictors, having an SNM campaign was significantly associated with lower perceptions of student drinking levels and lower alcohol consumption, as measured by a composite drinking scale, blood alcohol concentration for recent maximum consumption, drinks consumed when partying, and drinks consumed per week. A moderate mediating effect of normative perceptions on student drinking was demonstrated by an attenuation of the Experimental Group x Time interaction, ranging from 16.4% to 39.5% across measures. Additional models that took into account the intensity of the SNM campaign activity at the treatment institutions suggested that there was a dose-response relationship.
Conclusions:
This study is the most rigorous evaluation of SNM campaigns conducted to date. Analysis revealed that students attending institutions that implemented an SNM campaign had a lower relative risk of alcohol consumption than students attending control group institutions.

Gunther, A., Bolt, D., Borzekowski, G., Liebhart, J. Price Dillard, J. (2006). "Presumed Influence on Peer Norms: How Mass Media Indirectly Affect Adolescent Smoking." Journal of Communication, 56(1):52-68. return to list

Abstract:
In the context of adolescent smoking adoption, this study examined the presumed influence hypothesis, a theoretical model suggesting that smoking-related media content may have a significant indirect influence on adolescent smoking via its effect on perceived peer norms. That is, adolescents may assume that smoking-related messages in the mass media will influence the attitudes and behaviors of their peers and these perceptions in turn can influence adolescents' own smoking behaviors. Analyzing data from a sample of 818 middle school students, we found that both pro- and anti-smoking messages indirectly influenced smoking susceptibility through their perceived effect on peers. However, this indirect effect was significantly stronger for pro-smoking messages than for antismoking messages, an outcome that most likely increases adolescents' susceptibility to cigarettes.

Haines, M.P., Barker, G., Rice, R. (2006). "The Personal Protective Behaviors of College Student Drinkers: Evidence of Indigenous Protective Norms." Journal of American College Health, 55(2):69-75. return to list

Objective:
The authors of this study sought to determine, given the prevalence of consumption and relative infrequency of harm, how most college students protect themselves from harm while drinking.
Method:
Researchers at a large, public university in the Midwest conducted a number of focus groups, intercepts, and personal interviews to discover what strategies students employ to reduce their risks when drinking. The students' responses generated a list of 10 potentially protective behaviors, the prevalence and efficacy of which were then assessed using that institution's own annual health-assessment survey. Survey items regarding these same 10 protective behaviors were subsequently included in the National College Health Assessment. The researchers then analyzed the aggregate national database of the NCHA to determine whether the use of one or more of these protective behaviors correlated with reduced harm. In addition, they examined whether the incidence of harm is reduced, even as the quantity of alcohol consumed, as measured by estimated blood alcohol concentration (BAC) increases. Researchers used the spring 2002 NCHA survey and included only those schools that used an approved random sampling technique and students who identified themselves as current drinkers. The resulting data set contained 19,852 student drinkers from 44 institutions. The NCHA survey asked respondents to answer questions about drinking behaviors and alcohol-related consequences.
Results:
An analysis of the NCHA data identified a cluster of personal protective behaviors that correlated with reduced risk when drinking. Further analysis revealed that it was normative for student drinkers to invoke protection. Nearly three-quarters of student drinkers regularly used at least one protective behavior and more than half of the students who used protective behaviors routinely employed two or more. There was a significant negative correlation between the personal protective behavior (PPB) used and the alcohol-related harm (r = -.347, p < .05). The clustering of behaviors was shown to have an additive effect in that the more protective behaviors a student employed, the less harm was incurred. Even students who drink less moderately (male students, younger students, fraternity and sorority students, and students with higher BAC) could reduce their likelihood of harm by using multiple protective behaviors. The data also revealed that student drinkers employ situational abstinence, with nearly 7 out of 10 students reporting that they sometimes or usually refrain from drinking alcohol when they socialize. The use of these protective behaviors is a strong predictor of safety and harm for college student drinkers. Data from the NCHA indicate that the consumption of alcohol is a highly normative behavior for college students that only infrequently entail negative consequences. The study also provides figures on the effect of personal protective behaviors on overall reported incidence of alcohol-related physical harm for gender, age, fraternity/sorority membership, and BAC.
Conclusions:
The authors state that the analyses demonstrate that college-student drinkers regularly employ a variety of protective behaviors to reduce their risk of injury. The researchers speculated that the use of normative protective behaviors may account for the relatively low incidence of alcohol-related harm among college students. Further research is needed to determine the relative predictive strength of these behaviors compared with factors commonly used to assess risk in this population, such as sex, age, fraternity or sorority affiliation, and quantity of alcohol consumed per occasion as measured by estimated BAC. The data also suggest that PPBs provide a useful measure for identifying students who demonstrate resistance to alcohol-related harm. These findings confirm previous research showing that the use of PPBs reduces risk for college-student drinkers and extend this work by identifying a cluster of protective behaviors that is most effective in reducing alcohol-related harm. The varying impact of these behaviors has important implications for the field of college health because it strongly suggests that certain protective behaviors (e.g., avoiding drinking games, pacing drinks to 1 or fewer per hour, keeping track of how many drinks you are having) merit more promotion than do others.
Implications for the Field:
The results of these analyses are important for those in college health who use media or provide counseling to model and promote effective safer drinking skills to students. Given the success that a number of researchers have reported using social norms interventions, the promotion of these normative protective behaviors as an alcohol-abuse-prevention strategy is warranted. Viewed in the context of health promotion, these findings provide a practical alternative to the abstinence-only approach so notoriously ineffective among this population. Future research is needed, however, to determine the extent to which specific protective behaviors can be made more prevalent using the social-norms approach or other health-promotion strategies.

Kilmer, J.R., Walker, D.D., Lee, C.M., Palmer, R.S., Mallett, K.A., Fabiano, P., and Larimer, M.E. (2006). "Misperceptions of College Student Marijuana Use: Implications for Prevention." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(2): 277-281. return to list

Objective:
This study investigates the relationship between marijuana use, perceived norms of use by friends and students in general, and negative experiences or problems from alcohol and drug use. It was hypothesized that students would overestimate the marijuana use of students in general and that perceptions about the prevalence of marijuana use would be related to drug-related consequences.
Method:
In this study, 5,990 participants provided information on the perceptions and consequences of drug use via an online survey or via a paper-based survey.
Results:
Although two-thirds of participants reported no marijuana use, 98% of respondents incorrectly predicted that students in general use marijuana at least once per year. Perceptions of use by friends and students in general accounted for variance in drug use and related problems or experiences.
Conclusions:
Given the relationship between norm misperception and behavior with marijuana use, future research could explore the impact of targeting misperceived norms through prevention and intervention efforts.

LaBrie, J.W., Lamb, T.F., Pedersen, E.R., and Quinlan, T. (2006). "A Group Motivational Interviewing Intervention Reduces Drinking and Alcohol-Related Consequences in Adjudicated College Students " Journal of College Student Development, May/June 47(3): 267-280. return to list

Abstract:
This study examines the effectiveness of a single-session group motivational enhancement intervention with college students adjudicated for violation of alcohol policy. The intervention consisted of a Timeline Followback assessment of drinking, social norms re-education, decisional balance for behavior change, relapse prevention, expectancy challenge, and the generation of behavioral goals. All participants evidenced significant reductions in drinking from baseline through one and three month follow-up. Male participants and frequent binge drinkers showed the largest and most sustained reductions in drinking behavior. The results of this study provide tentative evidence for the effectiveness of group motivational enhancement interventions with adjudicated students.

Lewis, M.A., Neighbors, C. (2006). "Social Norms Approaches Using Descriptive Drinking Norms Education: A Review of the Research on Personalized Normative Feedback," Journal of American College Health, 54(4): 213-218. return to list

Abstract:
College students have been shown to consistently overestimate the drinking of their peers. As a result, social norms approaches are effective in correcting these misperceived norms to reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. In this review of the literature, the authors critically evaluated the effectiveness of personalized normative feedback. In addition, the authors reviewed personalized normative feedback interventions and provided suggestions for increasing the efficacy of these interventions by making better use of salient referent group data.

Linkenbach, J., Perkins, H.W. (2006). "Montana's MOST of Us Don't Drink and Drive Campaign: A Social Norms Strategy to Reduce Impaired Driving Among 21-34-Year-Olds." National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Publication: DOT HS 809 869. return to list
An online version in HTML format is available at:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/SocialNorms_Strategy/pages/TOC.htm
An online version in PDF format is available at:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/SocialNorms_Strategy/

Abstract:
This report presents the results of a demonstration project to test the efficacy of a high-intensity social norms media intervention to reduce the prevalence of driving after drinking among 21 to 34-year-olds living in western Montana. A baseline survey was conducted to collect self-reported data on the target population's behavior with respect to impaired driving, as well as on their perceptions of the behavior of their peers. Normative messages and media were developed from these data. Each survey gathered information on respondents' exposure to the campaign message, and on their perceptions and reported behaviors regarding driving after drinking. The campaign successfully reduced the target population's misperceptions of the frequency of impaired driving among their peers. The change in perceptions was associated with a change in reported behavior. In the target area there was a 13.7-percent relative decrease in the percentage that reported driving after drinking and a 15-percent relative increase in the percentage that reported always using non-drinking designated drivers. A high-intensity paid media social norms intervention can be successful on a statewide scale, across a wide variety of measures including perceptions, reported behaviors, attitudes, and support for policy. However, additional research is warranted to corroborate the self-reported behaviors with changes in the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of arrested drivers or numbers of alcohol-related fatalities.

Mallett, K., Lee, C.M., Neighbors, C., Larimer, M.E., and Turrisi, R. (2006). "Do We Learn from Our Mistakes? An Examination of the Impact of Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences on College Students' Drinking Patterns and Perceptions." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(2): 269-276. return to list

Objective:
Little research has examined antecedents of specific drinking consequences (vomiting, regretted sex, hangover, blackouts) among college students. This research examined how students' experiences of past consequences relate to their beliefs of experiencing similar consequences in the future and how these beliefs relate to current drinking patterns.
Method:
Self-reported past drinking behavior and resulting consequences associated with specific occasions were assessed among 303 (66% women) college students. Students also estimated number of drinks associated with risk of experiencing future similar consequences.
Results:
Paired-samples t tests indicated that students significantly overestimated the number of drinks it would take to vomit, have unwanted sexual experiences, experience hangovers, and black out in comparison with the actual self-reported number of drinks consumed the last time identical consequences were experienced. In addition, a series of multiple-regression analyses revealed that greater misperceptions between the perceived and actual number of drinks associated with each type of consequence were consistently associated with heavier drinking.
Conclusions:
Results suggest that heavier-drinking students do not learn from their mistakes but instead overestimate the amount of alcohol they can consume without experiencing negative consequences. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed in terms of augmenting brief interventions aimed at heavy-drinking college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved) (from the journal abstract)

Neighbors, C., Dillard, A.J., Lewis, M.A., Bergstrom, R.L., and Neil, T.A. (2006). "Normative Misperceptions and Temporal Precedence of Perceived Norms and Drinking." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(2): 290-299. return to list

Objective:
Previous research has shown that students overestimate the drinking of their peers, and that perceived norms are strongly associated with drinking behavior. Explanations for these findings have been based largely on cross-sectional data, precluding the ability to evaluate the stability of normative misperceptions or to disentangle the direction of influence between perceived norms and drinking. The present research was designed to evaluate (1) the stability of normative misperceptions and (2) temporal precedence of perceived norms and drinking.
Method:
Participants were college students ( N = 164; 94 women) who completed assessments of perceived norms and reported behavior for drinking frequency and weekly quantity. Most participants (68%) completed the same measures again two months later.
Results:
Results indicated large and stable overestimations of peer drinking for frequency and weekly quantity. Results also showed that for weekly quantity,, perceived norms predicted later drinking, but drinking also predicted later perceived norms. Results for frequency revealed norms predicted later drinking, but drinking did not predict later perceived norms. Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of longitudinal designs in evaluating normative influences on drinking. The present findings suggest that normative misperceptions are stable, at least over a relatively short time period. Findings support a mutual influence model of the relationship between perceived norms and drinking quantity but are more strongly associated with conformity explanations for the relationship between perceived norms and drinking frequency. Results are discussed in terms of implications for prevention interventions.

Neighbors, C., Lewis, M.A., Bergstrom, R.L, Larimer, M.E. (2006). "Being Controlled by Normative Influences: Self-Determination as a Moderator of a Normative Feedback Alcohol Intervention." Health Psychology, 25(5):571-579. return to list

Abstract:
The objectives of this research were to evaluate the efficacy of computer-delivered personalized normative feedback among heavy drinking college students and to evaluate controlled orientation as a moderator of intervention efficacy. Participants (N=217) included primarily freshman and sophomore heavy drinking students who were randomly assigned to receive or not to receive personalized normative feedback immediately following baseline assessment. Perceived norms, number of drinks per week, and alcohol-related problems were the main outcome measures. Controlled orientation was specified as a moderator. At 2-month follow-up, students who received normative feedback reported drinking fewer drinks per week than did students who did not receive feedback, and this reduction was mediated by changes in perceived norms. The intervention also reduced alcohol-related negative consequences among students who were higher in controlled orientation. These results provide further support for computer-delivered personalized normative feedback as an empirically supported brief intervention for heavy drinking college students, and they enhance the understanding of why and for whom normative feedback is effective.

Neighbors, C., Oster-Aaland, L., Bergstrom, R.L., and Lewis, M.A. (2006). "Event- and Context-Specific Normative Misperceptions and High-Risk Drinking: 21st Birthday Celebrations and Football Tailgating." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(2): 282-289. return to list

Objective:
Negative alcohol-related consequences often occur during specific events and in specific contexts (e.g., 21st birthday celebrations and tailgating parties). A lack of available event- and context-specific interventions suggests the need to better understand factors associated with heavy drinking in these contexts, with an eye toward developing specific interventions. The purpose of this research was to lay the foundation for developing personalized normative feedback interventions for 21st birthday celebratory drinking and tailgating drinking by evaluating whether students overestimate norms in these specific contexts, as they do more generally.
Method:
Perceived descriptive norms and alcohol consumption were assessed at event- and context-specific levels in two studies. Study 1 included 119 students turning 21 years old who reported their 21st birthday drinking behavior and estimated the typical number of drinking consumed by students celebrating their 21st birthday. Study 2 included 140 undergraduates drawn from a stratified sample who reported their behavior regarding drinking and tailgaiting and their perceived norms for typical drinking and tailgaiting behavior.
Results:
Results from Study 1 revealed that students overestimated peer drinking during 21st birthday celebrations, and this overestimation was associated with heavier drinking on one's own 21st birthday. In Study 2, students underestimated the percentage of tailgaiters who drank but overestimated typical consumption. Overestimation was consistently associated with heavier drinking during tailgaiting.
Conclusions:
Successful correction of general normative misperceptions for specific events and contexts provided by these results represents an important step in developing event- and context-specific interventions utilizing specific normative feedback.

Perkins, H.W. and Craig, D.W. (2006). "A Successful Social Norms Campaign to Reduce Alcohol Misuse Among College Student-Athletes." Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(6): 868-879. return to list

Abstract:
This study examines the impact of a social norms intervention to reduce alcohol misuse among student-athletes. The intervention was designed to reduce harmful misperceptions of peer norms and, in turn, reduce personal risk.
Method:
A comprehensive set of interventions communicating accurate local norms regarding alcohol use targeted student-athletes at an undergraduate college. An anonymous survey of all student-athletes was conducted annually for 3 years (2001: n = 414, 86% response; 2002: n = 373, 85% response; and 2003: n = 353, 79% response). A pre/post comparison of student-athletes was conducted separately for new and ongoing athletes at each point to isolate any general time period effects from intervention effects. A cross-sectional analysis of student-athletes with varying degrees of program exposure was also performed.
Results:
The intervention substantially reduced misperceptions of frequent alcohol consumption and high-quantity social drinking as the norm among student-athlete peers. During this same time period, frequent personal consumption, high estimated peak blood alcohol concentrations during social drinking, and negative consequences all declined by 30% or more among ongoing student athletes after program exposure. In contrast, no significant differences across time were seen for new student-athletes each year with low program exposure. Among student-athletes with the highest level of program exposure, indications of personal misuse were at least 50% less likely on each measure when compared with student-athletes with the lowest level of program exposure.
Conclusions:
This social norms intervention was highly effective in reducing alcohol misuse in this high-risk collegiate subpopulation by intensively delivering data-based messages about actual peer norms through multiple communication venues.

Peterson, J.L., and Bakeman, R. (2006). "Impact of Beliefs about HIV Treatment and Peer Condom Norms on Risky Sexual Behavior among Gay and Bisexual Men." Journal of Community Psychology, 34(1):37-46. return to list

Abstract:
The association between perceptions about condom use among one's peers, beliefs about new HIV treatments, and HIV sexual risk behavior was examined in a large urban sample (n = 454) of gay and bisexual men in the Southeast. Results partially confirmed the hypothesis that men who endorsed new HIV treatment beliefs would report lower norms for condom use and higher HIV sexual risk behaviors than men who failed to endorse HIV treatment beliefs but with casual, and not main, partners. Moreover, results confirmed the hypothesis that the association between HIV treatment beliefs and unprotected sex would be partially mediated by peer condom norms. Results suggest social interventions are needed to promote condom norms in the social context of new HIV treatments.

Smith, S., Atkin, C., Martell, D., Allen, R., Hembroff, L. (2006). "A Social Judgment Theory Approach to Conducting Formative Research in a Social Norms Campaign." Communication Theory, 16:141-152. return to list

Abstract:
The social norms approach predicts that campaign messages providing true normative information about widely misperceived health behaviors will reduce the gap between distorted perceptions versus actual practices and consequently reduce behaviors based on exaggerated norms. Formative evaluation of messages designed to effectively convey true norms informed by social judgment theory (SJT) should measure the boundaries of the latitudes of acceptance, noncommitment, and rejection for normative information. This study found that these latitudes were significantly different from one another in believability. SJT predicts that a campaign based on a norm falling in the latitude of noncommitment will be likely to be effective. A series of messages using the true norm, which fell within the latitude of noncommitment, were part of a campaign. The gap in perceived versus actual drinking and the difference in perceived number of drinks was reduced, while self-reports of consumption of five or fewer drinks increased significantly.

Weiss J. W, Garbanati J.A. (2006). " Effects of acculturation and social norms on adolescent smoking among asian-american subgroups." Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 5(2):75-90. return to list

Abstract:
This study provides new information about how acculturation and perceived social norms affect adolescents smoking among four Asian-American subgroups. Results showed differences in smoking prevalence rates across subgroups, with Koreans having the highest rates of smoking, while Chinese have the lowest rates. In contrast to the large gender disparity in the ancestral countries, smoking rates were equal for Asian-American boys and girls. Acculturation was significantly associated with an increased risk for lifetime smoking for Asian-American girls, but not for boys. Perceived social norms regarding peer smoking were significantly associated with smoking behaviors for both genders and for all subgroups.

Wight, D., Plummer, M.L., Mshana, G., et al. (2006). "Contradictory Sexual Norms and Expectations for Young People in Rural Northern Tanzania." Social Science and Medicine, 6:987-997. return to list

Abstract:
There has been a long-running debate as to whether sexual cultures in sub-Saharan Africa are permissive or characterised by restrictive rules, rituals, and self-restraint. This paper, based on participant observation data, outlines the main features of a sexual culture in rural northern Tanzania and highlights both permissive and restrictive norms and expectations for young people. It also illustrates how sexual beliefs are socially constructed and subject to social change. Sexual activity is constrained by clear norms of school pupil abstinence, female sexual respectability and taboos around the discussion of sex. However, these norms are incompatible with several widely held expectations: that sexual activity is inevitable unless prevented, sex is a female resource to be exploited, restrictions on sexual activity are relaxed at festivals, and masculine esteem is boosted through sexual experience. Differential commitment to these norms and expectations reflects conflicts between generations and genders. Young people appear to manage the contradictions in these norms by concealing their sexual relationships. This almost certainly contributes to their short duration and the high levels of partner change, since relationships are not reinforced through social recognition and there is little scope to develop intimacy through non-sexual contacts.

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