Evaluation Finds Success in Some Town-Gown Partnerships to Reduce High-Risk College Drinking

BOSTON (September 10, 2004)- In an evaluation of a 10-campus effort to reduce high-risk alcohol consumption, a Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study released today found reductions in drinking rates and alcohol-related harms at colleges that most fully implemented the program model. The program-A Matter of Degree: The National Effort to Reduce High-Risk Drinking Among Students (AMOD)-seeks to foster collaboration between universities and their surrounding communities to change environments around campuses that promote heavy alcohol consumption. The results are published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The ten geographically diverse college communities participating in the A Matter of Degree program were monitored from 1997 through 2001 to evaluate the program's success in reducing high-risk or binge drinking during the evaluation period. Specifically, drinking and harm patterns from these ten AMOD schools were compared to patterns at 32 matched colleges from the national College Alcohol Study (www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas) spearheaded by Henry Wechsler, Ph.D., a co-author and principal investigator of the study, and Lecturer in the Department of Society, Human Development and Health, at the Harvard School of Public Health. AMOD was developed and funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and managed by the American Medical Association (AMA). The program is funded through 2008.

The evaluation divided the AMOD program colleges into two groups based on their level of program implementation as of 2001. At the five program schools that incorporated more of the AMOD-recommended environmental policies and programs, significant changes were noted in drinking and related harms. These reductions did not occur at the group of sites that implemented fewer of these changes, nor at the group of 32 comparison colleges.

Specifically, the evaluation found modest reductions-between 5 and 11 percent-in rates of binge drinking, frequent intoxication, taking up binge drinking in college, and in "usually binging when drinking" at the five program schools that incorporated more of the AMOD-recommended policies and programs. Students who drank alcohol at these same five schools also experienced an 18 percent reduction in student experience of five or more alcohol-related problems, such as missing classes, getting in trouble with police, and getting hurt or injured. They reported ten percent fewer second-hand effects from other students' heavy alcohol use, such as vandalism and interrupted sleep or study time. Similar reductions were not found at the five schools that had not implemented a high level of AMOD-recommended policies and programs. Consumption and harm patterns among students at the 32 colleges that did not participate in the AMOD program also did not decrease during this time period.

Examples of types of policies and programs found effective by the evaluation include:

• mandatory training for responsible beverage service;
• requiring registration for purchasers of kegs;
• prohibiting the selling of alcohol without a license;
• keeping alcohol-related items out of student bookstores;
• expansion of substance-free residence halls; and
• promotion of alcohol-free activities.

"These initial findings show that when colleges and communities focus their prevention efforts on key environmental influences, they can produce measurable declines in alcohol consumption and harms among both drinkers and those around them," said Elissa Weitzman, Sc.D., lead author and co-principal investigator of the study and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Society, Human Development and Health at HSPH. "While the changes associated with the fuller implementation of the AMOD environmental program were modest, this is the first empirical evidence that environmental prevention strategies can influence drinking among college students."

"For the 12 years that we have studied college binge drinking, we have not had good news to report," said Henry Wechsler. "We are encouraged to find that the comprehensive approach set forth by the AMOD program appears to be working. It is a slow process, since it is not easy for colleges to implement programs such as these, but the effort appears to be showing positive results."

For at least a decade, binge-drinking rates have remained steady at most American colleges, despite heightened attention by college administrators and numerous attempts at intervention. The AMOD program is a departure from the most frequently employed approaches at colleges, which are primarily aimed at students through educational programs about the dangers of heavy drinking. The goal of the AMOD program is to change the conditions under which college students are exposed to an environment that promotes heavy drinking.

"The results of the study offer hope for colleges willing to address the heavy alcohol environment enveloping most college campuses," said Richard Yoast, director of the National AMOD Program

Office at the American Medical Association. "We are finding that communities and universities can come together to build comprehensive prevention approaches that target the larger social forces supporting misuse of alcohol by young people."

"There is reason for optimism on the basis of these preliminary results," said James R. Knickman, Vice President of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "This evaluation will provide guidance for the next generation of campus-based prevention efforts. The findings indicate the promise of taking a comprehensive public health approach to prevent misuse of alcohol and related harms among college youth."

In addition to Weitzman and Wechsler, "Reducing Drinking and Related Harms in College: Evaluation of the 'A Matter of Degree' Program" was co-authored by Toben F. Nelson, M.S. (Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Boston, MA) and Hang Lee, Ph.D. (Massachusetts General Hospital). For more information about the HSPH AMOD evaluation, please visit www.hsph.harvard.edu/amod.

Schools participating in the AMOD program include: Florida State University; Georgia Institute of Technology; Lehigh University; Louisiana State University; University of Colorado; University of Delaware; University of Iowa; University of Nebraska at Lincoln; University of Vermont; and University of Wisconsin. For more information about AMOD, please visit www.alcoholpolicymd.com.

Harvard School of Public Health is dedicated to advancing the public's health through learning, discovery, and communication. More than 300 faculty members are engaged in teaching and training the 900-plus student body in a broad spectrum of disciplines crucial to the health and well being of individuals and populations around the world. Programs and projects range from the molecular biology of AIDS vaccines to the epidemiology of cancer; from risk analysis to violence prevention; from maternal and children's health to quality of care measurement; from health care management to international health and human rights. For more information on the school visit: www.hsph.harvard.edu.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based in Princeton, N.J, is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grantmaking in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to quality health care at reasonable cost; to improve the quality of care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse - tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs. To this end, the Foundation supports scientifically valid, peer-reviewed research on the prevention and treatment of illegal and underage substance use, and the effects of substance abuse on the public's health and well-being. Further information can be found at: www.rwjf.org.