Sara A Flores, Arham Hassan, Benjamin N Montemayor
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Despite alcohol use remaining a prevalent issue on college campuses, the number of students who seek help remains low. The Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) provides a theoretical framework for understanding the psychosocial drivers of help-seeking intentions, while social networks offer additional potential utility by shaping norms and attitudes that influence these behaviors.
Objective: This study investigated the association between college students' social network characteristics, the RAA, and intentions to seek help for alcohol use if they thought or knew they had a problem.
Methods: Cross-sectional survey data from 1,447 college students were extracted from a larger, nationally representative college student quota sample. Inclusion criteria were between 18 to 24 years of age, enrolled full time in a college or university, reported past-year alcohol consumption, and passed data quality checks. Participants reported demographics, RAA constructs, and egocentric network data. Network composition variables were calculated via E-Net. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to examine intentions to seek help.
Results: A regression model consisting of RAA constructs was statistically significant at the p < .001 level, accounting for nearly 40% of the variance in help-seeking intentions. The addition of network composition variables increased the explained variance by an additional 2.8%, which was statistically significant at the p < .001 level.
Conclusions: Integrating RAA constructs with social network characteristics can help identify specific individual beliefs and social influences that can be targeted to strengthen help-seeking intentions and behaviors among college students who engage in high-risk drinking.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs began in 1940 as the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol. It was founded by Howard W. Haggard, M.D., director of Yale University’s Laboratory of Applied Physiology. Dr. Haggard was a physiologist studying the effects of alcohol on the body, and he started the Journal as a way to publish the increasing amount of research on alcohol use, abuse, and treatment that emerged from Yale and other institutions in the years following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. In addition to original research, the Journal also published abstracts summarizing other published documents dealing with alcohol. At Yale, Dr. Haggard built a large team of alcohol researchers within the Laboratory of Applied Physiology—including E.M. Jellinek, who became managing editor of the Journal in 1941. In 1943, to bring together the various alcohol research projects conducted by the Laboratory, Dr. Haggard formed the Section of Studies on Alcohol, which also became home to the Journal and its editorial staff. In 1950, the Section was renamed the Center of Alcohol Studies.