A new study prospectively examined the relationship between drinking behaviors during college and employment immediately after graduation. Participants were 827 graduating seniors from four U.S. universities who completed surveys during their last semester/quarter of college and one month after graduation. Respondents reported their average number of drinks a typical week (modal quantity of consumption) and the number of days on which they drank within the past 30 days (modal frequency), as well as number of times they engaged in heavy episodic drinking (HED) within the past 30 days. Participants also reported whether they were employed full-time, part-time, or unemployed at follow-up; those who reported part-time work were excluded from the analysis. Results indicated non-White graduates were 0.66 times less likely to be employed full-time (vs. unemployed), relative to White graduates and participants with any loan debt were 1.49 times more likely to be employed full-time than their peers without loan debt. Next, the authors ran a series of multiple logistic regressions using maximum likelihood estimation. After controlling for race, loan debt, career indecision, and financial stress, results indicated neither modal quantity nor frequency of consumption were significantly related to full-time employment after graduation (p = 0.16 and 0.84, respectively); however, HED frequency significantly predicted employment status at follow-up (p < 0.05). Each additional episode of HED per month corresponded to a 1.4% reduction in the odds of being employed full-time (vs. unemployed) one month after graduation. This meant students who engaged in HED once or twice per week were about 10% less likely to be employed full-time, relative to students who abstained from HED.
Take away: In this sample, the frequency at which college students reported engaging in heavy episodic drinking significantly predicted full-time employment at graduation. Each additional episode of heavy episodic drinking per month was associated with a 1.4% decrease in the likelihood of full-time employment one month after graduation.