Perceptions of Drinking and Related Findings From the Nationwide Campuses Study

Abstract

Proponents of social norms approaches maintain that correcting misperceptions of alcohol use among college students may reduce drinking and its consequences. The author used aggregate campus-level data from the Nationwide Campuses Study to test this hypothesis. He defined the misperceptions ratio as the ratio of the frequency of the “average student's” perceived alcohol use to the frequency of self-use at each campus. Each of the 57 colleges reported misperceptions ratios greater than unity. At campuses where students had more accurate perceptions of alcohol use, students were more likely to desire alcohol availability at campus events and to drink on more days throughout the year than at campuses where students had greater misperceptions of alcohol use. The author found no data to support the preferential use of social norms programming on campuses with high levels of self-reported alcohol use or binge drinking. These findings raise questions about potentially unexpected and unintended effects of social norms approaches.     

Perceptions of drinking and related findings from the Nationwide Campuses Study

Proponents of social norms approaches maintain that correcting misperceptions of alcohol use among college students may reduce drinking and its consequences. The author used aggregate campus-level data from the Nationwide Campuses Study to test this hypothesis. He defined the misperceptions ratio as the ratio of the frequency of the "average student's" perceived alcohol use to the frequency of self-use at each campus. Each of the 57 colleges reported misperceptions ratios greater than unity. At campuses where students had more accurate perceptions of alcohol use, students were more likely to desire alcohol availability at campus events and to drink on more days throughout the year than at campuses where students had greater misperceptions of alcohol use. The author found no data to support the preferential use of social norms programming on campuses with high levels of self-reported alcohol use or binge drinking. These findings raise questions about potentially unexpected and unintended effects of social norms approaches.     

Development of the MyPlan Safety Decision App with Friends of College Women in Abusive Dating Relationships

Dating violence (DV) from an intimate partner/expartner is common on college campuses, but young college women are far more likely to disclose DV to a peer than to seek formal services. Therefore, our team developed a prototype smartphone application (app) aimed at DV survivors’ peers. Through focus groups/interviews, 31 college students who self-identified as friends of DV survivors reviewed and provided feedback on the app's usefulness, understandability, appropriateness, and comprehensiveness. These findings support the acceptability and usefulness of an app to support peers of DV survivors on campus and thereby also strengthen the safety net for DV survivors.     

Misperceptions of the norms for the frequency of alcohol and other drug use on college campuses.

Data from surveys of students representing 100 diverse college campuses were used to investigate the difference between the self-reported frequency of a drug's use and students' perceptions of the frequency of use. Students were asked about the frequency of their own use of 11 drugs (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, sedatives, hallucinogens, opiates, inhalants, designer drugs, and steroids) and how often they thought "the average student" on their campus used these drugs. Respondents typically misperceived their peer norms (designated as the median of self-reported use) by substantially overestimating how often the average student used each drug, both in campus samples where abstinence or infrequent use were the median of self-reports and in samples where the median of self-reports revealed more frequent use. To the extent that they may promote or reinforce students' actual use, these misperceptions should be considered in designing college drug prevention programs.     

An empirical investigation of campus demographics and reported rapes

Objective: Rape on college campuses continues to be a pervasive public health issue with approximately 11% of women experiencing rape while in college. As such, it is important to examine factors unique to college campuses that influence the occurrences of rape. Methods: Using data from 1,423 four-year universities (public and private with at least 1,000 students) from the Office of Education and the Clery Act (2014), we examined institutional risk factors, such as tuition, liquor violations, Greek-life, athletic programs, institution type (public vs. private), and geographical location. Results: Public institutions with higher tuition, more liquor violations, and greater numbers of fraternity men and athletes were more likely to report rape on their campuses. Conclusions: Findings suggest that there are university-level characteristics which may increase certain campuses propensity toward violence against women.     

Reducing Firearm-Related Violence on College Campuses—Police Chiefs' Perceptions and Practices

Abstract

Context: Firearms are used in the majority of college aged suicides and homicides. With recent efforts by various gun lobbying groups to have firearms more accessible to college students on campuses, there is the potential for more firearm-related morbidity and mortality. Objective: This study assessed university police chiefs’ perceptions and practices concerning selected issues of firearm violence and its reduction on college campuses. Participants: The Directory of the International Association for College Law Enforcement Administrators was used to identify a national random sample of campus police chiefs (n = 600). The respondents were predominantly males (89%), 40 to 59 years of age (71%), Caucasian (85%), and worked for 21or more years in law enforcement (75%). Methods: In the fall of 2008, a 2-wave mailing procedure was used to ensure an adequate response rate to a valid and reliable questionnaire. Results: A total of 417 (70%) questionnaires were returned. A firearm incident had occurred in the past year on 25% of campuses and on 35% of campuses within the past 5 years. The majority of campuses (57%) had a plan in place for longer than a year to deal with an “active shooter” on campus. Virtually all (97%) of the campuses had a policy in place that prohibited firearms on campus. The primary barrier (46%) to a highly visible campus plan for preventing firearms violence was the perception that firearms violence was not a problem on their campus. Conclusions: A greater awareness of the importance of a highly visible campus firearm policy and its potential for reducing firearm trauma on college campuses is needed.     

Fat on Campus: Fat College Students and Hyper(in)visible Stigma

This article examines fat college students’ experiences of stigma. Fourteen college students and recent graduates describe their experiences of discrimination and stigma during their college careers. From these interviews, themes of hyper(in)visibility, anticipated stigma, spaces where stigma is more salient, and stigma management emerged. Fat students experience hyper(in)visibility: They are simultaneously hypervisible and invisible, on campus. This experience is impacted by gender and age. This hyper(in)visibility—combined with past experienced stigma—created a sense of anticipated stigma in students. Experiences of hyper(in)visiblity and anticipated stigma are made more salient by the size and shape of various campus spaces: classrooms, dining halls, student recreation centers, and recreational drinking spaces. Fat students often managed this stigma by avoiding these spaces and withdrawing from campus life. Students also embraced other stigma-resistance strategies and found peer groups and campuses spaces to facilitate this resistance.     

The Shift from Dating to Hooking up in College: What Scholars Have Missed

In recent years, research has been building that suggests dating has been replaced by hooking up as the dominant way for heterosexual students to get together on college campuses. Although recent studies have documented the phenomenon of hooking up, there is evidence that this behavior was likely in place long before it was recognized in the literature. Yet, for the past several decades, scholars have continued to examine 'dating' among college students. This calls into question whether scholars missed a fundamental shift in how heterosexual men and women form sexual and romantic relationships on campus. In this paper, I will (i) review the major findings on hooking up, (ii) explain the differences between traditional dating and hooking up, (iii) explore when traditional dating declined and hooking up emerged on the college campus, and (iv) discuss the effect of this shift on the literature.     

A Theory of Minority Students' Survival in College

This paper sets forth a theory to explain the survival of minority students in college. Minority students are faced with barriers such as cultural and racial isolation, unfamiliarity with college life, and hostility. As colleges place greater emphasis on diversity, campuses are more likely to turn into hostile milieus for minority students. In reaction, minority students will close ranks and seek other minority students on campus to form ethnic social networks rooted in their ethnic subculture. The ethnic social networks serve: (1) to reinforce excellence in academics; (2) to provide social support and information for students in navigating the college maze; and (3) to increase solidarity and pride in members. These minority social networks on campus help integrate minority students into the college social and academic systems and thereby maximize the students' survival in college.     

Unwanted sexual contact on campus: a comparison of women's and men's experiences

While sexual victimization continues to be a problem on college campuses, recent attention has been drawn to understanding gender differences in victimization rates and consequences. To date, these studies remain relatively few in number. The current study surveyed 651 male and female undergraduate students about unwanted sexual experiences during 1 academic year. Comparison of men and women revealed expected differences in incidence rates, with women reporting higher rates of unwanted contact. Within the subsample of reported victims, however, there was gender similarity in terms of the context of unwanted sexual experiences. Analyses also revealed the negative consequences of these experiences for both men and women and low rates of disclosure regardless of gender. Across the full sample of students surveyed, there were interesting gender differences in knowledge of campus support services, with women more likely to have attended a prevention program and to have indicated greater knowledge of rape crisis services.     

Student bodies, past and present

This article examines how the field of college health has evolved over time to address the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. The central argument is that college and university health programs developed in conjunction with shifting standards of medical care and public health practices in the United States. The author reviews the role of college health programs as public health agencies for campus communities, and describes contemporary public health challenges facing college campuses. She shows how the history of college health is intertwined with the history of diversity in higher education. In particular, the author outlines how the growth of health services made higher education accessible to women, racial minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities.     

Park-Like Campus Settings and Physical Activity

Abstract

Objective: Similar to parks, college campuses may promote physical activity. The purpose of this study was to compare the physical activity of adults at urban campuses and parks. Participants: Participants were individuals observed on campuses and parks in April 2011. Methods: The System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities was used to assess physical activity at 3 campuses and parks, 3 times/day, for 4 days. Results: Greater proportions of individuals (parks, campuses) were observed in vigorous (28.7%, 11.9%) and sedentary (25%, 18.3%) activities at parks than campuses and a greater proportion observed in walking (69.8%, 46.3%) intensity on campuses than parks. More men than women were observed at both parks and campuses, and paths and sport courts were most frequently used for physical activity. Conclusions: Physical activity intensities differ across college campuses and parks that provided similar physical activity amenities. Efforts should focus on increasing awareness of outdoor campus amenities that promote physical activity and understanding the outdoor amenities that of promote physical activity of women.     

Creating LGBTQI+ programing in urban higher education: Considering the creation process of a campus resource room

Abstract

While many community college campuses provide resources of some kind for students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or other sexual or gender-non-binary minorities (LGBTQI+), surprisingly few institutions have dedicated physical spaces designated for that purpose. This article explores, by way of a case study on the establishment of an LGBTQI+?resource room on a community college campus, the processes that must be considered and undertaken when establishing such spaces. Needs assessments, identification of stakeholders, and strategies for making an LGBTQI+?resource room a reality on campuses that have never had such spaces or initiatives are discussed for the purposes of carefully considering the components of a proposed template for campus administrators, staff, faculty, and students to follow. While outcomes described in this article are specific to one particular case, the procedures by which they were achieved were undertaken with the hopes that they might be replicable by other similar institutions, in light of the very few LGBTQI+?spaces in community college contexts.     

Implementation and evaluation of an Exercise is Medicine™ on campus week

Exercise is Medicine™ (EiM) on campus targets physical activity (PA) participation on college campuses. Limited research has addressed how PA initiatives can be operationalized on college campuses.PurposeTo describe the implementation of EiM on a large U.S. university campus and present preliminary outcomes on participation and awareness.MethodsEiM week was implemented on a large university campus. Exercise stations were set-up at campus locations to encourage brief bouts of PA and educate about the benefits of PA. Evaluation included observations of participation, surveys, and intercept surveys to assess awareness and reach.ResultsEiM week was implemented during Fall 2013. Exercise stations elicited 1771 exercise bouts from participants. Surveys indicated widespread reach across the university (13 of 17 colleges); most students (50.8%) became aware of the EiM campaign by passing by the exercise stations. Campus intercept surveys 1-week post-event indicated 54% students had heard about EiM, of which 39% had heard/seen the event through messages encouraging exercise.ConclusionThe current study was successful in engaging a large, diverse population on a college campus. Lessons learned from the development, implementation, and evaluation of EiM on campus activities provide insight for university campuses looking to target student health and PA participation.     

University Presidents’ Perceptions and Practice Regarding the Carrying of Concealed Handguns on College Campuses

Abstract

Objective: To assess the perceptions and practices of a national sample of college and university presidents regarding their support for concealed handguns being carried on college campuses. Participants: The sample for this study consisted of a national random sample of 900 college or university presidents. Methods: In the spring of 2013, a 3-wave mailing procedure was used to ensure an adequate response rate to a valid and reliable questionnaire. Results: The response rate was 46%, more than what was needed based on the power analysis. The vast majority (95%) of respondents were not supportive of carrying concealed handguns on campuses. They perceived there to be more disadvantages than advantages to handguns on campus. However, college administrators were not focused enough on the primary prevention of campus firearm trauma. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest a number of activities that could be implemented to enhance safety on college and university campuses.     

Smoking among New England College Men and Women

Abstract

Smoking behavior was examined among college students at 34 New England colleges. Women were more often smokers (44%) than men (32%) and were also more likely to smoke daily than men (23 vs. 16%). Men in private colleges were significantly less likely to smoke (22%) than those in public colleges (26%). At both public and private colleges, women were more likely to smoke than men. Smoking was inversely related to health habits for both men and women.

The percentage of college women who smoked is similar to that reported for the general population, while that for men is less. Prevention programs should be targeted to girls in the primary and secondary grades, as well as to college women, and support for smoking cessation should be made available on college campuses.     

Pluralistic ignorance and hooking up

Hooking up--when two people agree to engage in sexual behavior for which there is no future commitment--has become popular on college campuses. In this study we examined the extent to which pluralistic ignorance affects hooking up. One hundred thirty-six female and 128 male college students answered questions regarding their own comfort and their perceived peers comfort in engaging in a variety of sexual behaviors while hooking up. We hypothesized and found that both women and men rated their peers as being more comfortable engaging in these behaviors than they rated themselves. Men expressed more comfort than did women in engaging in these behaviors, and both sexes overestimated the other gender s comfort with hooking up behaviors. Pluralistic ignorance appears to apply to hooking up on college campuses, and we explore some potential consequences of pluralistic ignorance in this context.     

Guns and gun threats at college

A random sample of more than 10,000 undergraduate students, selected from 119 4-year colleges, answered a mailed questionnaire about gun possession and gun threats. Approximately 4.3% of the students reported that they had a working firearm at college, and 1.6% of them have been threatened with a gun while at school. Students are more likely to have a firearm at college and to be threatened with a gun while at college if they are male, live off campus, binge drink, engage in risky and aggressive behavior after drinking, and attend institutions in regions of the United States where household firearm prevalence is high. Having a firearm for protection is also strongly associated with being threatened with a gun while at college. Students who reported having firearms at college disproportionately reported that they engaged in behaviors that put themselves and others at risk for injury.     

Texas college students' opinions of no-smoking policies, secondhand smoke, and smoking in public places

Abstract. The authors examined college student opinions of no-smoking policies, secondhand smoke, and smoking in public places. A convenience sample of 1,188 (66.4% female; 26.9% White, 64.1% Black, and 9.0% Hispanic) students attending 5 Texas colleges volunteered to complete a 60-item anonymous survey on tobacco attitudes and behaviors. Results of our study showed that women, Black students, and nonsmoking students reported the most favorable attitudes toward no smoking. Male students, white students, and students who smoked in the past 30 days (current smokers) reported the least favorable attitudes. The lowest level of agreement by all subgroups was provided for prohibiting smoking everywhere on campus (inside and outside of buildings). Implications for tobacco control on college campuses are discussed.