COLUMBUS, Ohio, Mar 25, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- College students who are
problem drinkers and use alcohol to cope and boost self-confidence are more apt
to continue drinking, U.S. researchers said.
The Ohio State University researchers' survey suggests that adults who are still
high-risk drinkers by age 34 may have inadvertently used alcohol to blunt the
social and cognitive development that typically occurs during college, including
the ability to handle alcohol.
High-risk drinkers in the survey who stopped problem drinking after college
typically reduced their alcohol use during school -- a sign in itself that their
social development was closer to what is considered normal and on track.
"We saw clear differences that, if they could be identified during college,
could potentially lead to interventions that would make a difference in the long
term," senior author Ada Demb said in a statement.
The study, published in the Journal of College Student Development, found that
among high-risk drinkers, about 80 percent will grow out of that behavior, but
20 percent become what the researchers call "adult persistent" drinkers who
maintain high-risk alcohol use well into adulthood.
The 20 percent of drinkers in the adult persistent group reported they had been
more likely to use alcohol for self-confidence and to cope with personal
problems during college.
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2009 by United Press International