College student drinking is a widespread practice among undergraduate campuses throughout the world which concerns public health officials and university administrators alike. Risky drinking in students may cause a multitude of harms for individuals and social groups, spanning all forms of health and well-being. When designing prevention programs for college students several factors are considered regarding an individuals’ histories, motivations, and expectancies of drinking. Many prevention techniques have been shown to be particularly useful, but little research exists in describing student perspectives of prevention programs. This study aims to record these perspectives via a qualitative, focus-group-based design.
The study’s sample is composed of eight focus groups from two large universities in Ireland who reviewed a national alcohol prevention program called “REACT”. The program itself may be implemented at any universities and requires them to establish and maintain a variety of administrative and infrastructure measures aimed at reducing campus-based alcohol consumption. Groups contained the following four types of students: young undergraduates, undergraduates older than the most common age ranges, international students, and student organization members. 51 students made up the entire participant pool. The following subjects were discussed within each focus group: reflection on the REACT program, personal ideas regarding alcohol use prevention, and general vies of alcohol consumption. Focus group discussion data was analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis.
Results of the analysis found three primary themes to be present in the focus group transcripts: perceptions of student drinking, environmental influence on drinking, and school responsibility for controlling student drinking. Participants perceived drinking to be a ubiquitous aspect of college culture, asserting environmental factors as influences of the practice. Students praised parts of the REACT study which provided alcohol-free spaces on campuses as well as sober ride services. Students also emphasized the importance of cooperative responsibility among students and faculty in reducing alcohol consumption problems.
Takeaway: alcohol programs such as Ireland’s REACT contain many aspects which have received support from university students. Additional research encompassing student feedback of alcohol prevention programs is needed to identify consistencies across methods and techniques these programs provide.