Lauren Zimmerman
College students involved in Greek life are at a heightened risk for experiencing greater alcohol use and problems. Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) are effective at reducing alcohol-related harm, particularly among those at increased risk for alcohol-related consequences. Thus, students affiliated with Greek life may experience great benefit from PBS use; however, few studies have examined PBS use among Greek-affiliated college students. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether relations among PBS use, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems varied according to Greek life involvement.
Method: Participants were 2879 college students (25.3% Greek affiliated; 69.1% female) from 11 US universities who reported past-month alcohol use. Participants completed measures of Greek life involvement, alcohol use and problems, and PBS use via online survey.
Results: Greek life students reported more weekly drinks, more alcohol-related problems, and less frequent PBS use than non-Greek students. A moderated mediation model found that alcohol use mediated the relation between PBS use and alcohol-related consequences, such that more frequent PBS use was associated with lower alcohol use, which was in turn associated with fewer negative consequences. Further, there was a significant moderation effect, such that the negative relationship between PBS use and alcohol use was strengthened for Greek life students.
Conclusions: The current study extends previous work indicating that PBS are particularly beneficial for individuals at heightened risk for experiencing alcohol-related problems to also include members of Greek life. Interventions promoting PBS use may assist in decreasing alcohol-related harm among Greek life students. Alcohol use among college students is common, with 63% reporting past-month us. Although problematic drinking is found campus-wide, certain subgroups appear particularly at-risk, including Greek life members. Greek life students consume more alcohol and experience more alcohol-related problems (e.g., hangovers, blackouts, unplanned sexual activity, academic problems) than non-affiliated students. For example, 76% of Greek life members report hangovers and 32% report academic problems, compared to 53% and 17% among non-members, respectively. Thus, interventions that provide tools to engage in safer alcohol consumption are needed, especially those that may be effective with generating buy-in and creating sustainable changes in drinking patterns for Greek life students. Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) is one tool known to reduce alcohol use and associated consequences among college students. PBS are active behavioral techniques applied before, during, and after alcohol consumption. There are three subtypes of alcohol PBS: 1) Serious Harm Reduction (SHR); e.g., using a designated driver), 2) Stopping/Limiting Drinking (SLD); e.g., alternating alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages), and 3) Manner of Drinking (MOD); e.g., avoiding drinking games. There is substantial evidence that PBS use negatively relates to alcohol use and associated consequence. Further, PBS use may be an important mechanism of change related to alcohol use and/or alcohol-related consequences. It may be that PBS affects both alcohol use and consequences independently and directly, as evidenced in prior research demonstrating that interventions incorporating PBS were associated with decreases in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. There is also some evidence that PBS may indirectly (i.e., by decreasing alcohol use) decrease negative consequences. Alcohol consumption mediates the link between PBS and alcohol-related sexual consequences. Therefore, alcohol use may mediate the relation between PBS and consequences more generally, providing two paths (i.e., direct and indirect) through which PBS use negatively relates to alcohol-related consequences. Despite evidence of negative relations between PBS use and alcohol-related consequences in the general college population, only a few studies have examined PBS use among Greek life members. This is surprising, given that PBS appears particularly protective for individuals at increased risk for alcohol-related consequences which should include Greek life members. Further, the scant research on PBS use among Greek life members is inconclusive. For instance, Soule and colleagues (2015) found that Greek life students report more frequent use of PBS compared to non-affiliated students. Conversely, Barry and colleagues (2016) found that Greek life members used PBS significantly less often and reported significantly more alcohol-related consequences than non-members. Notably, these studies included low response rates of survey completion and did not assess differential associations with specific types of PBS. Given that alcohol use is a common occurrence within the Greek life culture further understanding of how PBS use relates to alcohol use and negative consequences for these students may importantly guide intervention efforts. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether relations among PBS use, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems vary based on Greek life membership. Using a moderated mediation model, we examined whether the indirect association between PBS use and alcohol-related problems via alcohol use was moderated by Greek association. Aligned with findings that individuals at-risk for alcohol-related problems experience a stronger protective effect from PBS. We hypothesized that the negative relation of PBS use with alcohol-related consequences through alcohol use would be stronger for Greek life students [1].