Core Survey Outcomes for the 1992 and 1993 Cohorts of FIPSE-Sponsored Drug Prevention Programs in Higher Education

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Core Survey Outcomes for the 1992 and 1993

Cohorts of FIPSE-Sponsored Drug Prevention

Programs in Higher Education

Andris Ziemelis, Ed.D.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Summarized below are results of 15 chi square analyses which compared

the numbers of institutions that increased and decreased (between pretest

and posttest) on substance use or use-related variables from the Core

Survey. The findings reported are based on data from over 130,000 Core

Surveys completed by students. In these analyses, the 1992 and 1993

Cohorts were combined, and the resultant samples used in the

comparisons ranged from 93 to 129 institutions. Despite the relatively

large numbers of institutions used in these analyses, generalization of the

results beyond FIPSE-sponsored institutions is not warranted. For

example, institutions receiving FIPSE grants may have been more strongly

motivated to address the problems of alcohol or other drug abuse than

institutions without such grants.

Core Survey Outcomes 1

1. Significantly more institutions decreased than increased in percent

of students reporting binge drinking in the previous two weeks

(p<.01). 2

2. Although more institutions decreased than increased in percent of

students consuming alcohol in the past 30 days, the above

changes were not statistically significant. 3

3. Significantly more institutions increased than decreased in percent

of students reporting marijuana use in the past 30 days (p<.01).

4. Significantly more institutions increased than decreased in percent

of students reporting use of illegal drugs other than marijuana in

the past 30 days (p<.01).

5. Significantly more institutions decreased than increased in percent

of students reporting some form of public misconduct (p<.01).

6. No statistically significant difference was found in numbers of

institutions that increased and decreased in percent of students

reporting some kind of serious problem.

7. Significantly more institutions increased than decreased in percent

of students who said the campus has alcohol and drug policies

(p<.05).

8. Significantly more institutions increased than decreased in percent
Core Survey Outcomes for the 1992 and 1993 Cohorts of FIPSE-Sponsored Drug Prevention Programs in Higher Education

file:///C|/Users/mames/Desktop/test/lps110655/core_survey.html[9/23/2014 11:15:50 AM]

of students who said the campus has an alcohol and drug

prevention program (p<.001).

9. No statistically significant difference was found in numbers of

institutions that increased and decreased in percent of students

who believe the campus is concerned about the prevention of drug

and alcohol use.

10. No statistically significant difference was found in numbers of

institutions that increased and decreased in percent of students

who believe the average student on campus uses alcohol once a

week or more.

11. Significantly more institutions increased than decreased in percent

of students who believe the average student on their campus uses

some form of illegal drug at least once a week (p<.001).

12. No statistically significant difference was found in numbers of

institutions that increased and decreased in percent of students

who would prefer not to have alcohol available at parties they

attend.

13. Significantly more institutions decreased than increased in percent

of students who would prefer not to have drug available at parties

they attend (p<.01).

14. Significantly more institutions increased than decreased in percent

of students who worked part-time or full-time (p<.05)

15. Significantly more institutions increased than decreased in percent

of students who reported spending at least 5 hours per month in

volunteer work (p<.02).

Conclusions and Recommendation

These mixed program outcomes for the 1992 and 1993 Cohort institutions

show that programs were generally more successful in addressing the

problem of alcohol use than illegal drug use. The statistics regarding

changes in student binge drinking, alcohol use (30 day prevalence), public

misconduct, policy awareness, program awareness, working, and

volunteering showed improvements over time. On the other hand,

statistics regarding changes in student marijuana use, other illegal drug

use, perceived illegal drug use, and preference for no drugs at parties

reflected exacerbation of the illegal drug use problem.

The current findings have implications for drug prevention programming

efforts, and they reinforce the need for continued analysis of programmatic

strategies in relation to program outcomes. For example, despite the fact

that "illegal" drug use by definition means "banned" drug use, such use

has increased steadily at many institutions that participated on this study.

Therefore, needed are evaluations that test the relative efficacy of specific

programmatic strategies (such as banning and deglamorizing) in

preventing substance use by students. Such comparative analyses may

not only clarify which programming efforts are most promising, but may

also specify the conditions under which they are most effective.

1 The underlined portion of each sentence reflects actual

wording of items in the Core Survey Executive Summary.

2 A t-test for correlated measures showed a near-significant

decrease(p<.13) in binge between pretest and posttest.
Core Survey Outcomes for the 1992 and 1993 Cohorts of FIPSE-Sponsored Drug Prevention Programs in Higher Education

file:///C|/Users/mames/Desktop/test/lps110655/core_survey.html[9/23/2014 11:15:50 AM]

3 A t-test for correlated measures showed significant

(p<.03) decrease in alcohol use between pretest and

posttest.

Copyright © 1998 by Andris Ziemelis

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