Reciprocal Relations of Protective Behavioral Strategies and Risk-Amplifying Behaviors with Alcohol-Related Consequences: Targets for Intervention with Female College Students

• NCJ Number: 228420
• Journal: Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Volume: 53 Issue: 2 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 7-30
• Author(s): Aaron M. Luebbe; Shiloh Varvel; Kim Dude
• Date Published: August 2009
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the impact on the negative consequences of drinking alcoholic beverages of "protective behavioral strategies" (such as eating food while drinking and keeping track of the number of drinks consumed) and "risk-amplifying behaviors" (such as the use of illicit drugs in combination with alcohol and driving while intoxicated) for 189 female college undergraduates.

Abstract

The study determined that the sampled women were engaging in high-risk episodic drinking on a moderate basis; they reported experiencing mild to moderate negative consequences from their alcoholic beverage consumption. The extent to which the women engaged in "protective behavioral strategies" (PBS) was not significantly related to experiencing fewer negative consequences at either time 1 or time 2 over and above alcohol consumption. This indicates that the women did not experience immediate benefits of using PBS. This lack of an association may result from controlling for both the quantity and frequency of drinking, which was not done previously. In further analysis, the study found that women initially practicing more PBS were likely to experience a reduction in future negative consequences, likely due to an evolutionary reduction in the amount and frequency of alcohol consumption. On the other hand, engaging in "risk-amplifying behaviors" (RAB) was related to experiencing more negative drinking consequences, even when controlling for consumption. This effect was similarly robust at both time points. The findings thus suggest that RAB is an important concurrent predictor of increased negative consequences from alcoholic beverage consumption; for example, a woman who has unprotected sex when drinking is more likely to experience negative effects (possibly pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease). This finding suggests that risk-amplifying behaviors associated with the effects of alcohol consumption warrant interventions and prevention efforts that target these behaviors, so as to reduce the number and effects of negative drinking consequences. 30 references and appended items that measured PBS and RAB