Similarities and Differences in Substance Use Patterns and Consequences Among 2- and 4-Year College Students

Introduction: Across the life course, alcohol and other substance use reaches its peak for many individuals during young adulthood and use at this time is associated with many acute negative consequences and potential longer-term developmental and health effects. The majority of research and intervention efforts have focused on 4-year colleges. Less is known about 2-year college (community college, trade and vocational schools) students’ drinking and substance use, yet 2-year students represent almost half of the young adults attending US post-secondary institutions (AACC, 2013).

Method: Study participants were 185 trade and vocational school, 2-year community college (n=78) and 4-year college students (n=107) (17-25 years of age; mean age 20.41 years; females 62.2%) who participated in an online survey of health behaviors. Participants were recruited through a variety of methods including Facebook, Craigslist, flyers, and newspaper advertisements. Participants completed items that assessed their current education status, drinking behavior (Baer, 1993; Marlatt & Larimer, 1995; White & Labouvie, 1989), marijuana use (Johnston et al., 2013), and feelings of nicotine dependence (DiFranza et al., 2002), and demographics.

Results: Significant differences between 2-year and 4-year students in drinking were found.  4-year students tend to drink more alcohol overall including the average number of drinks per week (M=7.54, SD =8.86) and the average number of days they drank (M=2.22, SD=1.63) compared 2-year students’ average drinks per week (M=3.07, SD=4.42) and average number of days drinking (M=1.20, SD 1.43).   However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in the average number of drinks per drinking day, t (107) = -4.12, p = .20, the number of drinks on a typical weekend, t (156) = -1.50, p = .14, the estimated blood alcohol level for the occasion they drank the most in the past month, t (154) = -1.70, p = .09, or for consequences related to drinking, t (158) = -.07, p = .95.  There were no significant differences in the number of days of marijuana use, t (171) = 1.42, p = .18, total amount of marijuana used per week, t (164) = 2.21, p = .07, or consequences associated with marijuana, t (55) = 1.21, p= .23.  2-year students’ average marijuana use per day (M=.38, SD= .95) was significantly higher than 4 year students’ (M=.12, SD=.35), as was their nicotine dependence (M=1.27, SD=2.38; M=.35, SD=1.32).

Conclusions: While 4-year students may drink more alcohol overall, 2-year students drink the same amount when they drink and face the same alcohol related consequences. Results suggest the two types of students have different drinking patterns and how researchers measure drinking, e.g. total drinks per week versus average drinks per drinking day, may determine the significant drinking differences between types of students. More research is needed on 2-year college students to determine their drinking and marijuana behavior and why they face the same alcohol and substance consequences.  Similarly, intervention delivery should focus on differing types of drinking patterns for different types of college students.