The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

Secondary Effects of Heavy

Drinking on Campus

For additional information

The Higher Education Center for

Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention

Education Development Center, Inc.

55 Chapel Street

Newton, Massachusetts 02458-1060

www.higheredcenter.org

(800) 676-1730; fax: (617) 928-1537

HigherEdCtr@edc.org

INFOFACTSRESOURCES

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education,

with supplemental funding from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

August 2003

☞

by Daniel Ari Kapner

While some may view college drinking as a “rite of

passage” for students, the consequences of underage

and high-risk drinking leave no room for doubt—

excessive alcohol use is harmful, affecting both

students and the institution as a whole. Not only do

heavy drinkers negatively affect their own health and

academic potential but also the physical, mental,

and emotional well-being of their peers who abstain

or drink moderately. The harm experienced by those

students who are not heavy drinkers is referred to as

“secondary effects.”

This Infofacts/Resources offers an overview of the

secondary effects that result from heavy drinking on

campus and in surrounding communities and

outlines effective prevention approaches that many

campuses are currently following to address the

problem.

Secondary Effects of Alcohol Use

Students who abstain or are light or moderate

drinkers frequently suffer from the behavior of other

students who drink heavily. The majority of college

and university students are not heavy drinkers, with

nearly one-fifth abstaining from all alcohol use.

Nevertheless, more than three-quarters of all students

living in residence halls, fraternities, or sororities

report that they have experienced at least one

secondary effect due to another student’s drinking.1

These secondary effects range in nature from small

annoyances that interfere with one’s studies to

criminal behavior and serious acts of violence.

Following are prominent secondary effects

experienced by those students who live on campus

or in sorority or fraternity houses and who abstain

or drink moderately:1

• 60.0 percent had study or sleep interrupted.

• 47.6 percent had to take care of a drunken

student.

• 29.2 percent had been insulted or humiliated.

• 19.5 percent of female respondents experienced

an unwanted sexual advance.

• 19.0 percent had a serious argument or quarrel.

• 15.2 percent had property damaged.

• 8.7 percent had been pushed, hit, or assaulted.

• 1.0 percent of female respondents had been a

victim of sexual assault or acquaintance rape.

Impaired Driving

A report by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse

and Alcoholism (NIAAA), A Call to Action:

Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S.

Colleges, cites several studies on the negative health

consequences of students’ drinking.2 One study

estimates that more than 1,400 college students die

every year from alcohol-related causes, with 1,100

of these deaths involving drinking and driving.

Approximately 2.1 million students between the

ages of 18 and 24 drove after drinking in 2001.3

There are no studies to indicate how many students

die from automobile crashes caused by another

student’s driving under the influence, but stories

of these tragic deaths make headlines every

academic year.

Sexual Assault and Interpersonal

Violence

The National College Women Sexual Victimization

(NCWSV) survey found that 20–25 percent of

college women are victims of an attempted or

completed rape during their college careers. In 9

out of 10 cases, the victims know the perpetrators.

According to the survey, 12.8 percent of completed

rapes, 35.0 percent of attempted rapes, and 22.9

percent of threatened rapes take place during a

date.4

The NIAAA report estimates that alcohol is

involved in 70,000 cases of sexual assault every year,

including acquaintance rape.3

 In a study of

students who had been victims of some type of

sexual aggression while in college—from

intimidation and illegal restraint to rape—the

surveyed women reported that 68 percent of their

male assailants had been drinking at the time of the

attack.5 Another study found that on campuses with

high levels of drinking, 19.5 percent of female

students who were not heavy drinkers were

confronted with unwanted alcohol-related sexual

advances in the previous year.1

Alcohol is also associated with hazing, riots, and

other forms of nonsexual violence on campus. The

NIAAA report estimates that 600,000 four-year

college students are hit or assaulted by drinking

students in the United States every year.3 Several

studies estimate that between 50 and 80 percent of

violence on campus is alcohol-related.6 One study

of residence halls found that 71 percent of violent

acts directed toward resident advisers was alcoholrelated.7

A huge burden for campuses has been student

riots, usually taking place following sporting events

or after new campus alcohol policies are created. 8–12

Riots pose challenges for campus administrators

and law enforcement officers and can lead to

unexpected economic burdens.13 A number of

campus riots point to alcohol as a key contributing

factor.9–14

Because alcohol is involved in various forms of

violence on campus, alcohol control measures

should be a major consideration when campuses

design violence prevention programs.
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The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention

INFOFACTS

Community Consequences of

Alcohol Use

A 2002 study on the secondary effects of college

drinking experienced by neighborhood residents

found much evidence that college drinking

affects their quality of life.15 The study of 4,661

individuals concluded that respondents living

within one mile of a campus were much more

likely to experience noise or disturbance,

vandalism, public drunkenness, and vomit or

public urination by students on their property

than are people living more than one mile from

a campus. The following table illustrates the

secondary effects experienced by area residents

in relation to their distance from a campus.15

Not surprisingly, the study found that

neighborhoods closer to campus had a higher

density of alcohol outlets than neighborhoods

farther from campus, with 92.1 percent of

respondents within one mile of a campus and

74.9 percent of those more than one mile away

reporting the nearby presence of an alcohol

outlet. Alcohol outlets were especially abundant

near campuses with higher levels of heavy

drinking on campus. The study concluded

that a decrease in alcohol outlets near

campuses might significantly lower the

secondary effects experienced by individuals

residing in those areas.15

Using Information on Secondary

Effects for Alcohol Prevention

Publicizing information on secondary effects is useful

for attracting public attention and developing support

for policy change and stricter enforcement. The

Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)

launched a major campaign on several campuses to

encourage student advocacy on campus. CSPI used

posters and flyers to remind students about unpleasant consequences of other students’ drinking, with the

aim of reinforcing negative attitudes against

secondary effects, encouraging students to be vocal

about their right to a safer campus, and enrolling

student leaders in advocacy work to improve the

social life on campus.16

Perhaps the

most successful

public health

campaign in

recent years is the

antismoking

effort, which has

focused on the

consequences of

secondhand smoke

(also known as

environmental

tobacco smoke).

Similarly, alcohol

prevention

specialists can gain political momentum by focusing

on the role of heavy-drinking students in negatively

affecting the larger population of moderate-drinking

and abstaining students.

What Colleges Are Doing to

Address Alcohol Problems

Building off widespread concerns about secondary

effects of alcohol use, institutions of higher education

should continue to implement comprehensive

alcohol prevention programs. Many campuses and

communities are implementing new programs and

policies that go beyond traditional educational

programs—which have not proven to be effective in

curbing high-risk drinking when used alone—to

change the physical, social, legal, and economic

environment on campus and in surrounding

communities.

Under the banner of environmental management, the U.S. Department of Education’s Higher

Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug

Prevention recommends the following key

strategies:17

Promoting Alcohol- and Other DrugFree Social, Recreational, and Extracurricular Options and Public Service

• Sponsor alcohol- and other drug-free social

and recreational options for students, such as

a student center, coffeehouse, or other alcoholfree settings. Marketing efforts for these events

must clearly outline the alcohol- and other

drug-free guidelines for the activities.

• Sponsor and publicize volunteer and

community service opportunities for students.

Creating a Social, Academic, and

Residential Environment That Promotes

Healthy Social Norms

• Develop social norms marketing campaigns

to address exaggerated misperceptions of

alcohol and other drug use.

• Develop programs targeted to male peer

 groups, such as fraternities and athletics teams.

• Promote a healthy environment through the

 college admissions procedures.

• Offer core classes in the academic schedule

on Thursdays, Fridays, and possibly Saturdays.

• Make available substance-free residence

options.

• Educate faculty and staff about behavioral

indicators, student norms, and cultural attitudes

related to high-risk or illegal alcohol

and other drug use.

• Encourage faculty to engage in a higher level

of contact with students.

• Publicize pro-health messages through

campus and community media channels.

Limiting Availability and Access

• Work with local law enforcement to stay

current with trends related to alcohol and

other drug use on campus.

• Ban or restrict alcohol on campus.

• Prohibit alcohol use in public places.

• Prohibit delivery or use of kegs or other

common containers on campus.

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 Distance from Campus

Secondary Effects More than 1 mile Within 1 mile

Litter

Noise or disturbance

Vandalism

People who are drunk

Fighting or assault to others

Vomit or public urination

Automobile crash

Four or more problems observed

 72.8 % 79.3 %

 53.4 % 70.8 %

 31.7 % 48.7 %

 35.6 % 58.5 %

 17.8 % 28.5 %

 10.5 % 32.2 %

 40.2 % 46.1 %

 30.8 % 53.2 %

Secondary Effects Experienced by Area Residents
• Require alcohol servers to be registered

and trained.

• Disseminate guidelines for off-campus parties.

• Regulate the number and concentration of

alcohol outlets near campus.

• Advocate a raise in the cost of beer and

liquor licenses.

• Promote a limit to the hours of alcohol sales.

• Advocate a reduction in the container size of

alcoholic beverages.

• Encourage limitations regarding quantity

per sale of alcohol.

• Promote required keg registration.

• Encourage an increase in state alcohol taxes.

Limiting Marketing and Promotion of

Alcohol

• Restrict alcohol advertising in sports

stadiums and on athletics publications.

• Reduce marketing and promotion targeted

at athletes. Work with local bar owners to

limit such marketing.

Enforcing Campus Policy and State and

Local Laws

• Communicate campus alcohol and other

drug policies clearly and frequently to the

community, including possible consequences

for violations.

• Enforce policies against vandalism, and

make students aware of the costs associated

with property damage.18

• Require registration of on-campus functions.

• Use undercover operations at campus pubs

and on-campus functions.

• Enforce ID checks at on-campus functions.

• Advocate enforcement of ID checks at offcampus bars and liquor stores.

• Utilize targeted patrols to observe on-campus

and off-campus parties.

• Increase disciplinary sanctions for violation

of campus alcohol and other drug policies.

• Increase criminal prosecution of students for

alcohol-related offenses.

• Enforce driver’s license penalties for minors

violating alcohol laws.

• Educate sellers/servers about potential legal

liability.

• Enforce penalties for sale of liquor to minors.

References

1. Wechsler, H.; Eun Lee, J.; Kuo, M.; Seibring M.; Nelson, T. B.;

and Lee, H. “Trends in College Binge Drinking During a

Period of Increased Prevention Efforts: Findings from 4

Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Surveys:

1993–2001.” Journal of American College Health 50: 203–

217, 2002.

2. Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse

and Alcoholism, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and

Alcoholism. A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of

Drinking at U.S. Colleges (Washington, D.C.: National

Institutes of Health, 2002).

3. Hingson, R. W.; Heeren, T.; Zakocs, R. C.; Kopstein, A.; and

Wechsler, H. “Magnitude of Alcohol-Related Morality and

Morbidity Among U.S. College Students Ages 18–24.” Journal

of Studies on Alcohol 63(2): 136–144, 2002.

4. Fisher, B. S.; Cullen, F. T.; and Turner, M. G. Sexual

Victimization of College Women: Findings from Two

National-Level Studies (Washington, D.C.: National Institute

of Justice and Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2000).

Daniel Ari Kapner is a writer/researcher at the

Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other

Drug Prevention.

5. Frintner, M. P., and Rubinson, L. “Acquaintance Rape: The

Influence of Alcohol, Fraternity Membership, and Sports Team

Membership.” Journal of Sex Education and Therapy

19(4): 272–284, 1993.

6. Roark, M. L. “Conceptualizing Campus Violence: Definitions,

Underlying Factors, and Effects.” Journal of College Student

Psychotherapy 8(1/2): 1–27, 1993.

7. Palmer, C. J. “Violence and Other Forms of Victimization in

Residence Halls: Perspectives of Resident Assistants.” Journal

of College Student Development 37(3): 268–278, 1996.

8. The Silver Gate Group. Rites of Spring: Exploring Strategies

for System Change (A White Paper Prepared for Drugs Don’t

Work! The Governor’s Prevention Partnership, 2000.

www.higheredcenter.org/pubs/rites.html).

9. O’Toole, T. “‘Celebratory Riots’ Creating Crisis on Campus,”

USA Today, 9 April 2002.

10. Strauss, V. “College Towns, School Officials Seek End to PostGame Rioting; String of Disturbances Part of Growing Trend,

Observers Say,” Washington Post, 4 April 2001.

11. Axtman, K. “Colleges Struggle to Stem Rioting after Games,”

Christian Science Monitor, 29 November 2002.

12. White, J. “JMU President Seeks Answers to Riot,” Washington

Post, 29 August 2000.

13. Zimmerman, R. “Alcohol and Student Disruptions on

Campus.” Catalyst 5(1): 6–7, 1999.

14. For more information about violence prevention on campus,

see the Higher Education Center’s Web site at

www.higheredcenter.org/violence/.

15. Wechsler, H.; Eun Lee, J.; Hall, J.; Wagenaar A.C.; and Lee H.

“Secondhand Effects of Student Alcohol Use Reported by

Neighbors of Colleges: The Role of Alcohol Outlets.” Social

Sciences & Medicine 55: 425–435, 2002.

16. DeJong, W. “The Role of Mass Media Campaigns in Reducing

High-Risk Drinking Among College Students.” Journal of

Studies on Alcohol, supplement no. 14: 182–192, 2002.

17. For more information about environmental strategies for

alcohol and other drug prevention, see the Higher Education

Center’s publication Environmental Management: A

Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Alcohol and Other

Drug Use on College Campuses.

18. Epstein, J., and Finn, P. Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems

on Campus: Vandalism (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department

of Education, Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other

Drug Prevention, 1999).

19. Thomas, B. “Drinking Survey Indicates Change in Campus

Climate,” University of Delaware Update: A University

Community Newspaper, 3 December 1998.

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• Enforce laws against buying alcohol for

minors.

• Enforce penalties for possessing fake IDs.

• Use undercover operations at retail alcohol

outlets.

• Advocate a stringent enforcement of DUI laws.

• Implement roadblocks.

• Establish dramshop laws that apply legal

action for serving intoxicated drinkers or

minors.

Each college will need to assess the level and

extent of both high-risk drinking and secondary

effects so that plans can be tailored to meet the

institution’s particular needs. Surveying students

about their behavior and tracking incidents of

violence or property damage on campus are

assessment methods already in place at many

institutions. For instance, after creating a “three

strikes and you’re out” policy for violations on and

off campus, the University of Delaware could

document a major reduction in secondary effects by

surveying students, tracking emergency room visits

from students, and keeping tab on vandalism

costs.19

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention

INFOFACTS
This publication has been funded in

part with Federal funds from the

Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools

at the U.S. Department of Education

under contract number ED-99-CO-0094 with

Education Development Center, Inc. The content of

this publication does not necessarily reflect the views

or policies of the U.S. Department of Education, nor

does mention of trade names, commercial products,

or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S.

Government. Published 1996. Revised February

2003, August 2003.

The Higher Education Center for

Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention

The U.S. Department of Education’s Higher

Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug

Prevention assists institutions of higher education

nationwide in developing, implementing, and

evaluating alcohol and other drug prevention

policies and programs that will foster students’

academic and social development and promote

campus and community safety. The Center provides

training; technical assistance; assessment,

evaluation, and analysis activities; publications; and

support for The Network: Addressing Collegiate

Alcohol and Other Drug Issues. For more information on how to utilize Center services or become

involved in prevention programming, please see the

Center’s Web site, www.higheredcenter.org, or

contact the Center at (800) 676-1730.

Other Organizations

National Clearinghouse for Alcohol

and Drug Information (NCADI)

11426-28 Rockville Pike, Suite 200

Rockville, MD 20852

(800) 729-6686

www.health.org/

NCADI is the information service of the Center for

Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), Substance

Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

NCADI is the world’s largest resource clearinghouse

for current information and materials concerning

substance abuse. NCADI distributes publications and

other materials on substance abuse from various

federal government agencies (e.g., study reports,

surveys, guides, videocassettes), many of which are

free of charge. NCADI offers resources on illicit

drugs, alcohol and alcoholism, and subpopulations

in the United States.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse

and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

6000 Executive Boulevard - Willco Building

Bethesda, MD 20892-7003

www.niaaa.nih.gov/

(301) 496-4000

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and

Alcoholism (NIAAA) published A Call to Action:

Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges, a

groundbreaking report on the consequences of

drinking at colleges and universities and effective

strategies for prevention. The NIAAA supports and

conducts biomedical and behavioral research on the

causes, consequences, treatment and prevention of

alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. NIAAA also

offers a Web site on college drinking prevention, found

at www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/.

The Network: Addressing Collegiate

Alcohol and Other Drug Issues

c/o The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and

Other Drug Prevention

Education Development Center, Inc.

55 Chapel Street

Newton, MA 02458-1060

Fax: (858) 551-2948

www.higheredcenter.org/network/

The Network (formerly known as the Network of

Colleges and Universities Committed to the Elimination of Drug and Alcohol Abuse) is a national

consortium of colleges and universities formed to

promote healthy campus environments by addressing

the issues of alcohol, other drugs, and violence. Begun

in 1987 by the U.S. Department of Education, The

Network comprises member institutions that

voluntarily agree to adhere to a set of standards aimed

at reducing alcohol and other drug problems at

colleges and universities. It has close to 1,500

members nationwide. The Network develops

collaborative alcohol and other drug prevention efforts

among colleges and universities through electronic

information exchange, printed materials, and

sponsorship of national, regional, and state activities

and conferences.

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention

RESOURCES

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Pacific Institute for Research and

Evaluation

Center for Enforcing Underage

Drinking Laws

Calverton Office Park

11710 Beltsville Drive, Suite 300

Calverton, MD 20705-3102

(877) 335-1287

www.udetc.org/

The Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) aims to promote, undertake, and

evaluate activities, studies, and programs that

improve individual and public health, welfare,

and safety. PIRE’s Center for Enforcing

Underage Drinking Laws provides science-based,

practical, and effective training and technical

assistance to states and communities involved in

enforcing underage alcohol access and use laws.

The center achieves this goal by providing

technical assistance, trainings, and publications

that cover topics such as policy development,

police operations and enforcement, media

advocacy, and leadership training. The Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

(OJJDP) funds the center.