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Abstract:
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Although alcohol use and related problems are highly prevalent in emerging adulthood overall , college students drink somewhat more than do their peers who do not attend college . The personal or social influences underlying this difference , however , are not yet well understood . The present study examined whether personality traits (i .e . , self -regulation and sensation seeking ) and peer influence (i .e . , descriptive drinking norms ) contributed to student status differences . At approximately age 22 , 4 -year college students (n = 331 ) and noncollege emerging adults (n = 502 ) completed web -based surveys , including measures of alcohol use , alcohol -related problems , personality , and social norms . College students drank only slightly more heavily . This small difference , however , reflected personality suppression . College students were lower in trait -based risk for drinking , and accounting for traits revealed a stronger positive association between attending college and drinking more heavily . Although noncollege emerging adults reported greater descriptive drinking norms for social group members , norms appeared to more strongly influence alcohol use among college students . Finally , despite drinking less , noncollege individuals experienced more alcohol -related problems . The association between attending college and drinking heavily may be larger than previously estimated , and it may be masked by biased selection into college as a function of both self -regulation and sensation seeking . Differing patterns of alcohol use , its predictors , and its consequences emerged for the college and noncollege samples , suggesting that differing intervention strategies may best meet the needs of each population . |