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Welcome to the Oregon State University Addictive Behaviors Education and Prevention program Web page. We strive to educate the campus community about responsible alcohol and other drug use.
Oregon State University is committed to maintaining an educational environment and workplace free from drugs and alcohol. The University supports programs for the prevention of abuse of alcohol and controlled substances by university students and employees as well as assistance programs for those with problems related to controlled substance abuse. This annual review outlines the programmatic activities and policies instituted and administered by the University during 2006-2007.
In part, due to the lack of success of college alcohol and other drug abuse programs in decreasing excessive alcohol use and the associated problems the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) established a committee to determine the state of prevention for institutions of higher education and submitted a report titled “A Call To Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges.” This report has become the cornerstone by which alcohol abuse prevention programming on college campuses is based. The committee determined that few prevention programs had enough research support to suggest that they would be “proven effective” for college students (NIAAA, 2002). However, this report did outline a framework for developing a comprehensive prevention strategy on U.S college campuses. The “3-in-1 framework,” as it is now known, describes structuring policies, programs, and practices that are focused on three levels of intervention; including; 1) the individual students (and student groups), 2) the campus as a whole, and 3) the campus and surrounding community. OSU has been working toward such a best practice approach, given that the scope and nature of college prevention activities has necessarily changed since the NIAAA report was drafted. This report will outline various practices, identify any assessment of those practices, and outline areas of strength and areas of needed improvement.
IMPACT is a program designed for OSU students to engage in a focused and meaningful discussion about alcohol or Marijuana use. http://studenthealth.oregonstate.edu/impact
Educational outreach is a cornerstone of early intervention practices at OSU. Multiple offices engage in outreach activities that are instrumental in reducing the burden of excessive and underage alcohol use.
The Alcohol Work Group (AWG) is a collaborative campus enterprise created to develop partnerships and engage in a sustained conversation that included campus and community wide prevention planning, policy review and development, and continual environmental assessment and response. http://studenthealth.oregonstate.edu/alcohol-work-group
These residential options acknowledge and reinforce students who have already made the decision not to drink alcohol.
OSU has had a long commitment to gathering health behavior data related to alcohol and other drug use and its consequences. Currently, the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) is administered biennially. The NCHA allows for reporting estimated number of drinks consumed by OSU students and an estimate of the blood alcohol level (BAL) that students obtained as compared to national averages. Table 1 describes these data.
| Variable (includes non-drinkers) | OSU 2004 | OSU 2006 | National 2006 |
| Avg. # of drinks “last time partied” - men | 5.98 | 5.88 | 5.34 |
| Avg. # of drinks “last time partied” - women | 3.74 | 3.85 | 3.46 |
| Avg. # of drinks “last time partied” - total | 4.83 | 4.59 | 4.17 |
| Blood Alcohol Level - men | 0.07% | 0.07% | 0.07% |
| Blood Alcohol Level - women | 0.07% | 0.08% | 0.07% |
| Blood Alcohol Level - total | 0.07% | 0.08% | 0.07% |
| Variable (non-drinkers excluded) | OSU 2004 |
| Avg. # of drinks “last time partied” - men | 7.54 |
| Avg. # of drinks “last time partied” - women | 4.82 |
| Avg. # of drinks “last time partied” - total | 5.86 |
| Blood Alcohol Level - men | 0.10% |
| Blood Alcohol Level - women | 0.10% |
| Blood Alcohol Level - total | 0.10% |
In addition to information of quantity, data are collected on frequency measures. The following tables (Table 2 & 3) provide data to compare the 2004 and 2006 OSU information as well as 2006 national comparator data in terms of the frequency of use on campus and the negative consequences associated with student alcohol consumption.
| Frequency of use | OSU 2004 (%) | OSU 2006 (%) | National 2006 (%) |
| Never used alcohol | 14.7 | 19.1 | 17.2 |
| Used-not in the last 30 days | 12.5 | 13.3 | 13.2 |
| 30 day prevalence (1-9 times) | 52.2 | 52.7 | 54 |
| 30 day prevalence (10+ days) | 20.6 | 14.9 | 15.6 |
|
Frequency of negative consequences(non-drinkers excluded from analysis) |
OSU 2004 (%) | OSU 2006 (%) | National 2006 (%) |
| Doing something later regretted | 40 | 40.5 | 35.7 |
| Forgetting where they were/what done (black-out) | 32.2 | 34.9 | 29.8 |
| Being physically injured | 21.5 | 20.9 | 18.2 |
| Unprotected sex | 19.1 | 16.9 | 13.9 |
| Involved in a fight | 7.8 | 6.7 | 6.1 |
| Physically injured another person | 6.3 |
5.2 |
4.1 |
| Force or threat of force to have sex with them | 2.1 |
2.1 |
1.3 |
| Drive after 5+ alcoholic drinks | 5.4 |
3.7 |
5.4 |
| Binge drinking rate (5+ drinks/sitting-last 2 wks.) | 40.1 | 39.5 | 37.1 |
Information on harm-reduction behaviors is presented (Table 4) as a way to determine areas where more education could occur and to determine if our students have used any means of protecting themselves from possible alcohol related harm.
|
Behavior (non-drinkers excluded) |
OSU 2004 (%) | OSU 2006 (%) | National 2006 (%) |
| Alternate alcoholic with non-alcoholic beverages | 27.3 | 31.6 | 30.1 |
| Determine in advance not to exceed a set number of drinks | 34 |
39.2 |
36.1 |
| Choose not to drink alcohol | 26.5 |
30.8 |
24.8 |
| Use a designated driver | 77.9 |
85.1 |
75.3 |
| Eat before and/or during drinking | 78.8 |
82.5 |
79 |
| Have a friend let you know when you have had enough | 33.5 |
39.3 |
26.5 |
| Keep track of how many drinks being consumed | 62.5 |
64.8 |
65.1 |
| Pace drinks to one or fewer an hour | 24.6 |
23.3 |
29.2 |
| Avoid drinking games | 36.1 |
31.8 |
42.2 |
| Drink an alcohol look-alike | 5.4 | 6.3 |
6.6 |
Alternative Events:
After Hours @ OSU is a multi-departmental collaboration aimed at delivering late night activities on campus that provide students with the opportunity to socialize and recreate without alcohol and or other drugs.
OSU supports consistent enforcement of violations of the OSU alcohol and other drug policies and state laws. OSU works closely with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission via a partnership with the Oregon State Police in the enforcement and education regarding such policies and the state laws.
This community-based coalition used funds from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) which were funneled through the Benton County Health Department in the form of EUDL (Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws) monies to create a partnership focused on underage drinking prevention
OSU has been a participating member of the Coalition and been the host of OCCC Conference for the last eight years. The emphasis of the conference is to reduce underage drinking on college campuses and to reinforce the efficacy of Campus/Community Coalitions. http://oregonstate.edu/occca/
OSU is a represented as a member of the Governor’s Taskforce to Reduce Underage Drinking.
Employees are encouraged to seek assistance for controlled substance dependency problems through the University Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Evaluation, counseling and referral services are available to employees through this program, and assistance is provided on a confidential basis. The health benefits packages available to all University employees provide at least partial reimbursement for treatment and rehabilitation associated with substance abuse. Each new employee is invited to an orientation in which the EAP and health benefits provisions are discussed. http://www.cascadecenter.com/
Pat Ketcham, Ph.D., CHES
Student Health Services – Health Promotion Department
Oregon State University
541-737-7553
The Substance Abuse Prevention Program is located in 340 Plageman Bldg. (Student Health Services). If you would like to contact the office to schedule an appointment or get more information about programs, outreach or other requests, please phone 541-737-7552.
