If one examines the college population in isolation, there are certainly reasons to be attentive to college-specific influences. Hingson et al. (2009) extrapolated from a number of data sources that, among 18- to 24-year-olds, college drinking contributes to roughly 1,825 student deaths, 599,000 injuries, and 97,000 instances of sexual assault or date rape each year, and the numbers have been increasing annually. The patterns of heavy drinking typically associated with these adverse consequences are strongly related to college-specific factors, such as the presence of a fraternity/sorority system, athletics, dorm living, and spring-break trips (Lee et al., 2006; Presley et al., 2002). Most alarming, perhaps, is that roughly 38% of college students meet criteria for either alcohol abuse (31.6%) or alcohol dependence (6.3%) according to the DSM-IV (Knight et al., 2002).
Recent data reveal, however, that noncollege peers also display high rates of risky behaviors. The 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) indicates that both college students and their noncollege peers consume alcohol at similarly heavy rates (Chen et al., 2004), that rates of alcohol abuse and dependence are roughly equivalent for college and noncollege individuals, and that the development of alcohol-use disorders among young adults is more related to their living situation (e.g., at home with parents, on campus, off campus) than to college status itself (Dawson et al., 2004). Spikes in heavy drinking among 18- to 24-year-olds are possibly a function of developmental processes occurring in this transitional period, sometimes called "emerging adulthood" (Arnett, 2005). During this period of role instability, college attendance is only one of the major life options; young adults also may move away from home (without attending college), begin full-time jobs, take time off to "find themselves," or join the armed forces. To ascertain the specific influences of the college experience on alcohol consumption above and beyond the broader role of emerging adulthood, researchers must disentangle these various influences.
Identifying those influences that are particular to college attendance is complicated, however, by a definition of college attendance that is not universally shared by researchers. On close examination, it becomes clear that conceptualizations of college status are inconsistent, and, in some cases, the criteria used to classify an individual as a college student are ambiguous. Furthermore, some studies treat a substantial group of individuals who are in some sense "part time," or who move frequently between college and noncollege status, as "atypical" and therefore exclude them from analyses. As a result, conclusions about how the college (vs. noncollege) experience affects drinking remain elusive.
The current review elaborates and documents recurrent themes that have emerged in studies comparing drinking behavior among college students and their age-matched nonstudent peers. In comparing studies, we paid particular attention to both overlapping and divergent conceptualizations of both college and noncollege status. In addition, we reviewed methodological differences that influence how individuals are categorized as a college student or a noncollege peer, or excluded from analyses. Finally, we reviewed the conclusion that college status affects drinking outcomes, such as frequency, quantity, and risk for future alcohol-use disorders.
