Heather L. O. Champion

Calorie Restriction on Drinking Days: An Examination of Drinking Consequences among College Students.

Objective: This study examined the association between restricting calories on intended drinking days and drunkenness frequency and alcohol-related consequences among college students. Participants: Participants included a random sample of 4,271 undergraduate college students from 10 universities. Methods: Students completed a Web-based survey regarding their high-risk drinking behaviors and calorie restriction on intended drinking days. Results: Thirty-nine percent of past 30-day drinkers reported restricting calories on days they planned to drink alcohol, of which 67% restricted because of weight concerns. Restricting calories on drinking days was associated with greater odds of getting drunk in a typical week. Women who restricted were more likely to report memory loss, being injured, being taken advantage of sexually, and having unprotected sex while drinking. Men were more likely to get into a physical fight. Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of considering weight control behaviors in the examination of high-risk college drinking.

Tobacco Use by College Students: A Comparison of Daily and Nondaily Smokers

OBJECTIVES To explore demographics, contextual factors, and health risk behaviors associated with nondaily smoking by college students. METHODS In fall 2005, a random sample of 4100 students completed an online survey. RESULTS Of those surveyed, 29% reported current smoking; of that 29%, 70% were nondaily smokers. Compared to daily smokers, nondaily smokers were younger, African American (compared to white), had mothers with higher education, belonged to Greek organizations, and attended private (vs public) schools. Nondaily smokers were less likely to have used illicit drugs. CONCLUSIONS Nondaily and daily smokers differed on several demographic and contextual factors, but reported mostly similar health risk behaviors.

Date Fighting Experiences among College Students: Are They Associated with Other Health-Risk Behaviors?.

Objective: The authors examined the clustering of health-risk behaviors among college students who reported date fight involvement. Participants and Methods: The authors administered a Web-based survey to a stratified random sample of 3,920 college students from 10 universities in North Carolina. Results: Among men, 5.6% reported date fight victimization, and 1% reported date fight perpetration. Victimization among men was associated with (1) first drink at age 15 years or younger, (2) a recent threat of violence by someone who had been drinking, (3) smoking, (4) amphetamine use, and (5) older age. Among women, 6.7% reported date fight victimization, which was associated with (1) older age, (2) assault from a student who had been drinking, (3) sex with 2 or more persons, (4) consumption of alcohol in high school, (5) illegal drug use, (6) nonsexual assault requiring medical treatment, and (7) living off campus. Of the women, 4.2% reported date fight perpetration, which was associated with (1) minority race/ethnicity, (2) older age, (3) frequency of sexual intercourse, and (4) alcohol and marijuana use. Conclusions: Date fight experiences were associated with multiple health-risk behaviors among this sample of college students.

Contextual Factors and Health Risk Behaviors Associated with Date Fighting Among High School Students

ABSTRACT Over 2,000 North Carolina high school students completed surveys measuring community risk and protective factors and individual health risk behaviors including dating violence perpetration and victimization. Females reported more date fighting perpetration than males (8.8% to 4.0%), as well as greater levels of date fighting victimization (7.2% and 5.0%). In multivariate models, factors associated with date fighting perpetration among females and males included riding with a drinking driver. Neighborhood organization was protective for both groups. Cigarette use, drinking and driving, and being a minority were also associated with perpetration among females, while tobacco use was associated with date fighting perpetration by males. Factors associated with victimization among both genders included riding with a drinking driver. Females were more likely to be victimized if they used marijuana, whereas males were less likely to be a victim of date fighting if they perceived their community to be “organized.” Findings reflect comparable individual risk factors for date fighting across genders, with few exceptions, and warrant further investigation of the role of community assets in protecting young people from dating violence.

Adolescent date fighting victimization and perpetration from a multi-community sample: associations with substance use and other violent victimization and perpetration.

UNLABELLED Dating violence perpetration and victimization among adolescents in the U.S. is an important public health problem. The literature examining the relationship between dating violence, substance use, and other risk behaviors among adolescents is limited. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to examine associations of adolescent date fighting victimization and date fighting perpetration with substance use and other risk behaviors. METHODS Repeated cross-sectional phone surveys of 14-20 year olds from 70 communities across five states were conducted in the spring of2004 and 2006 (n=13,422). Multivariate regression analyses were used to analyze the relationship between date fighting victimization and date fighting perpetration with substance use and other risk behaviors. RESULTS Older age, Black race (vs. White), single parent household, age of first drink, riding in a car with a drinking driver, having been sexually victimized, and having threatened or hurt someone with a weapon were associated with date fighting victimization (all p<.01). Older age, female gender, Black race (vs. White), Hispanic ethnicity (vs. White), single parent household, age of first drink, past 30 day drunkenness, past 30 day marijuana use, having been sexually victimized, having perpetrated sexual victimization, and having threatened or hurt someone with a weapon were associated with date fighting perpetration. CONCLUSIONS Similar, yet distinct, patterns of individual characteristics and health risk behaviors emerged for date fighting victimization and perpetration among adolescents.

Free Alcohol Use and Consequences: Gender Differences Among Undergraduates

OBJECTIVE To examine gender differences in obtaining free alcohol, high-risk drinking, and consequences. METHODS Web-based surveys were administered annually (2003-2005) to random samples of undergraduates (N=10,729). RESULTS Gender, race, age under 21, sorority/fraternity membership, lower disposable income, and relationship status were significant predictors of obtaining free alcohol. Frequent obtainers had greater odds of heavy episodic drinking and consequences compared to infrequent obtainers. Females were less likely to report heavy episodic drinking; however, frequently obtaining females were more likely to report heavy episodic drinking. CONCLUSIONS Approximately 25% of undergraduates frequently obtained free alcohol. Females obtained more often, had higher odds of high-risk drinking, and experienced fewer consequences compared to males.

Who really uses condoms?: Findings from a large internet-recruited random sample of unmarried heterosexual college students in the Southeastern United States.

Abstract Using data collected from an online internet-based assessment, we explored condom use rates and the characteristics of condom users among sexually active, unmarried heterosexual college students within a stratified random sample of 2,645 students from 10 universities in North Carolina. Of 1,417 students who fit the inclusion criteria, 39% were male and 61% were female. Half reported consistent condom use. Using correlated logistic regression, consistent condom use was associated with being male (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 1.47; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.16-1.86); underclassman academic classification (AOR = 0.87 per year increase, 95%CI = 0.78-0.96); being involved in performing arts (AOR = 1.63, 95%CI = 1.10-2.42); not smoking within the past 30 days (AOR = 1.38, 95%CI = 1.09-1.75); and not having a steady boy/girlfriend (AOR = 1.42, 95%CI = 1.09-1.85). These findings underscore the importance of tailoring HIV prevention strategies and intervention activities to student characteristics.

Viewing professional wrestling on television and engaging in violent and other health risk behaviors

Background: This study examined the relationships between watching wrestling on television (TV) and engaging in health risk behaviors among an older multi-state sample of adolescents. Methods: In 2001, a random sample of 2,307 youth ages 16 to 20 years from 138 communities in 17 US states completed telephone surveys as part of the national evaluation of the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program. The survey measured multiple health risk behaviors, including substance use, involvement in date fighting, other violent behaviors, and sexual risk behaviors. The frequency of watching wrestling on TV during the two week period before the survey was measured with a scale of 0 to 14 or more times. Multivariate analyses were conducted with logistic regression using a generalized estimating equation (GEE) model with an exchangeable correlation structure that controlled for within-group clustering. Data are presented as adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals. Results: Males (22.4%) reported watching wrestling more than females (13.6%). After adjusting for ethnicity, sex, median family income, age, region of the country, other fighting behaviors, and family composition, the frequency of watching wrestling was associated with having tried to hurt someone with a weapon (OR = 1.67, CI = 1.05–2.66), engaging in sexual intercourse without using birth control (1.42, 1.01–1.98), being a current cigarette smoker (1.31, 1.02–1.69), and not drinking (0.64, 0.48–0.85). When the frequency of watching wrestling was treated as an independent variable, after adjusting for covariates, each additional time wrestling was watched on TV was associated with an increased risk of being in a date fight (1.16, 1.02–1.30), threatening to hurt someone with a weapon (1.14, 1.02–1.28), hurting someone with a weapon (1.19, 105–1.34), and engaging in sexual intercourse without using birth control (1.13, 1.03–1.23). For example, youth who had watched wrestling six times during the past two weeks were 144% more likely to have engaged in a date fight than adolescents who had not watched wrestling. Conclusions: The more frequently these adolescents reported watching wrestling on TV, the more likely they were to engage in violent and other health risk behaviors.

How ready are colleges for an environmental approach that utilizes campus/community coalitions?

While there is optimism about an environmental management approach that utilizes campus-community coalitions to reduce levels of high-risk drinking, the readiness of schools to implement such an approach is unknown. We surveyed 100 colleges regarding their readiness based on eight factors: existence of a task force to address alcohol use on campus; the inclusion of the college/university President; inclusion of a community representative; frequent meetings; external funding to address alcohol use; previous environmental training; changes implemented as a result of environmental training; and a plan to institute environmental training in the future. Having an alcohol task force or coalition (57%) was associated with participation by the president and/or community representative on the task force, having extramural funding to address high-risk drinking, training in environmental management, implementation of changes after the training, plans for future training, school size, Greek organizations on campus, and being a state university.

Evaluation of Free to Grow: Head Start partnerships to promote substance-free communities:

Free to Grow: Head Start Partnerships to Promote Substance-free Communities (FTG) was a national initiative in which local Head Start (HS) agencies, in partnership with other community organizations, implemented a mix of evidence-based family-strengthening and community-strengthening strategies. The evaluation of FTG used a quasi-experimental design to compare 14 communities that participated in the FTG intervention with 14 matched comparison communities. Telephone surveys were conducted with two cohorts of the primary caregivers of children in HS at baseline and then annually for 2 years. The survey was also administered to repeated cross-sectional samples of primary caregivers of young children who were not enrolled in HS. No consistent evidence was found in changes in family functioning or neighborhood conditions when the 14 FTG sites were compared to 14 matched sites. However, caregivers of young children who were not in HS in three high-implementing FTG sites showed evidence of improvements in neighborhood organization, neighborhood norms against substance abuse, and child disciplinary practices. Results provide highly limited support for the concept that family and neighborhood conditions that are likely to affect child development and well-being can be changed through organized efforts implemented by local HS programs.