Alcohol consumption is a problem among college students. Annually, 1,800 students age 18 to 24, die due to alcohol related injuries and accidents (Hingson et al., 2009). Recently, rates of alcohol consumption have increased among college students (Schulenberg et al., 2019). Among college students, research has shown that a person’s peer group is one of the key influences on their own drinking behavior (Previt et al., 2014). There are also differences among drinking frequency and alcohol-related consequences in relation to racial identity (Barnes et al., 1994). However, it is unknown if the racial composition of close friends impacts one’s drinking patterns. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine how the racial identities and drinking patterns of friends within a person’s social network potentially influences their own drinking frequency. It is hypothesized that students drink more alcohol when with their racial non-minority friends than with their minority friends. Data collection is ongoing from a mid-size midwestern university using a snowball sampling survey. Data will be analyzed with ego networks and social network analysis. Further exploring the influence of racial/ethnic identities of close friends on alcohol consumption allows for the creation of more specific intervention and prevention efforts to help reduce alcohol misuse on college campuses.
Author: Charles Lynch, Jr.
Faculty Advisor: Rose Marie Ward, Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Health
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