Social Context of Drinking and Alcohol Problems Among College Students

Objective-To examine how social contexts of drinking are related to alcohol use disorders, other alcohol-related problems, and depression among college students.Methods-Logistic regression models controlling for drinking frequency measured the association between social context and problems, among 728 current drinkers.Results-Drinking for social facilitation was associated with drinking and driving and housing violations.Drinking in the context of motor vehicles was associated with alcohol abuse/dependence.Drinking in a context of emotional pain was associated with clinical depression.Conclusions-Alcohol-free programming that fulfills needs for conviviality and addresses early signs of depression might reduce alcohol problems among college students.