Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
19-4-2018 3:30 PM
End Date
19-4-2018 4:45 PM
Keywords
substance abuse education, community based learning, psychology of women
Biography
The students in this group are psychology majors in my Community Based Learning, Psychology of Women Capstone Seminar. They would like to present their final project in my course at the COLA Conference.
Major
Psychology
Advisor for this project
Dawn M. Goel
Abstract
The prevalence of alcohol abuse in college students is on the decline. Binge drinking has dropped from 45% in 2005 to 37% in 2014 (Hingson, Zha, & Smyth, 2017). In West Virginia, Cabell County is ranked 15th in binge drinking with 10.9% of the population reporting having consumed more than five drinks on the same occasion in the past month (West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, 2016). When it comes to college students, 12.5% of students reported heavy alcohol use in 2015 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2015), and 20% met the criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder (i.e., a problematic pattern of alcohol use leading to clinically significant impairment or stress; American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Blanco et al., 2008). Furthermore, 25% of students report academic consequences from drinking including, missing class, falling behind on school work, and poor grades (St. Lawrence University, 2018). With these statistics in mind, this project seeks to provide accurate and comprehensive substance abuse education to college students. To combat high rates of substance abuse among these students, we plan to give presentations to various student groups at Marshall University. Specifically, we plan to target students living in the dorms, athletes, and fraternities and sororities. We seek to inform students of risk factors associated with substance abuse, what signs to look out for in themselves or others, and programs that are available to help them both on and off-campus.
Promoting Substance Abuse Awareness for College Aged Students
The prevalence of alcohol abuse in college students is on the decline. Binge drinking has dropped from 45% in 2005 to 37% in 2014 (Hingson, Zha, & Smyth, 2017). In West Virginia, Cabell County is ranked 15th in binge drinking with 10.9% of the population reporting having consumed more than five drinks on the same occasion in the past month (West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, 2016). When it comes to college students, 12.5% of students reported heavy alcohol use in 2015 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2015), and 20% met the criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder (i.e., a problematic pattern of alcohol use leading to clinically significant impairment or stress; American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Blanco et al., 2008). Furthermore, 25% of students report academic consequences from drinking including, missing class, falling behind on school work, and poor grades (St. Lawrence University, 2018). With these statistics in mind, this project seeks to provide accurate and comprehensive substance abuse education to college students. To combat high rates of substance abuse among these students, we plan to give presentations to various student groups at Marshall University. Specifically, we plan to target students living in the dorms, athletes, and fraternities and sororities. We seek to inform students of risk factors associated with substance abuse, what signs to look out for in themselves or others, and programs that are available to help them both on and off-campus.
