UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS RESEARCHER OFFERS EXPERTISE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- As interest begins to circulate about the meeting between community leaders and the University of Arkansas Alcohol Coalition, Dr. Janice Brown, assistant professor of psychology, has her finger on the pulse of the alcohol issue.

As a researcher in clinical psychology, Brown provided data and advice to the UA Alcohol Coalition. But her main expertise - the prevention and early intervention of alcohol abuse among college students - is pursued independently through her work in thedepartment of psychology.

During her three years at the U of A, Brown has directed a 10-member research team in gathering data about the drinking practices and perceptions of University students. Her studies not only gauge the general student population but also focus on specific groups such as fraternities, sororities, athletes, ethnic and gender groups.

According to Brown, college campuses are unique environments that shelter and separate students from the general, social population. Therefore, psychological tendencies and behaviors within the general population may not be the same within a college population.

For example, studies indicate that women tend to drink less often and to consume smaller amounts of alcohol when they drink than men. As a result, women exhibit less of the high-risk behavior that is associated with drinking.

On college campuses, however, Brown has found that women who consume excessive amounts of alcohol are drinking as much and as often as their male counterparts. In addition, college women participate in the same risky behaviors that male students exhibit - driving while intoxicated or practicing unsafe sex.

In addition, while medical science and psychology have found links between family history and alcohol abuse, Brown's data indicate that family history is a minor factor in determining whether or not a college student abuses alcohol.

"Alcohol is so freely available, so much an expected part of the college experience that things like family history don't influence drinking habits much," Brown said. "We find that personality traits - like a tendency toward impulsive behavior - are a stronger indication of heavy drinkers. It appears to be more personality than genetic proclivity within the college population."

After two years of data collection, Brown says her research team has entered the intervention stage of their project. This stage identifies excessive drinkers within the UA student population and offers them information that compares their drinking habits to the habits of average students. Brown does not punish or counsel these students but relies on motivational intervention to trigger a process called self-regulation by which students change their own behavior.

According to Brown, self-regulation is an individual's ability to recognize his or her own behavior, to determine whether changes are necessary, and then to execute those changes within the individual's own life. "We're providing personalized information that they then incorporate into an analysis of their own actions," she said. "Internally they must make the distinction and trigger their own reaction."

Brown is careful to distinguish the process of self-regulation from the idea of will-power. In fact, she says, the two counteract each other.

"Someone who tries to tough it out is not engaging in successful regulating processes," Brown said. "You have to be able to be flexible and to react as circumstances change. Self regulation means you're able to change your behavior to meet new and unpredictable situations."

Brown says there is some good news about excessive college drinkers: most don't carry that pattern into adulthood. Though 45 percent of college students binge drink, only 10 percent of them will still be abusing alcohol a decade later.

However, Brown cautions people against condoning this behavior based on the fact that students tend to grow out of it. Drunk driving, unsafe sex and alcohol-related violence are significant dangers that accompany student alcohol abuse.

"If we can get students to use designated drivers, to practice safe sex, to understand their own limits and the idea of responsible drinking, we'll go a lot further toward eliminating this problem than if we try to ban all alcohol," she said.

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