College Pressure 101
Document Type
Event
Abstract
College students are in the most vulnerable years of their lives. As they leave home away from their parents’ clutches, they navigate through life. There is newfound freedom from parental guidance and home rules. They control their time and enjoy the liberty to seek new relationships and enjoy other people’s company. Together, they test the waters. Who they are and what they are become pronounced through a gradual process that may be influenced by social learning through observation and modeling as well as imitation and conformity to various avenues of college pressure – drinking and testing drugs now play a role in their attempt to balance college work, participate in college culture, and maintain affiliations and peer relations. College Pressure 101 is an assessment survey that aims to answer the question: Does peer pressure affect college students’ attitudes toward drinking and drugs? The stance for the alternative hypothesis is taken to indicate that peer pressure bears an effect on college students’ attitudes toward drinking and drugs. Results indicate that the quality of peer relationships influences drinking. Just as peers provide support and encouragement for drinking, they can also provide support and encouragement from abstaining. Results also indicate that social learning theory offers a partial explanation for nonmedical prescribed drug use among college students.
Keywords
college pressure, alcohol, drugs, binge drinking
College Pressure 101
Breakout Session A: Humanities and Social Sciences
CASB 104College students are in the most vulnerable years of their lives. As they leave home away from their parents’ clutches, they navigate through life. There is newfound freedom from parental guidance and home rules. They control their time and enjoy the liberty to seek new relationships and enjoy other people’s company. Together, they test the waters. Who they are and what they are become pronounced through a gradual process that may be influenced by social learning through observation and modeling as well as imitation and conformity to various avenues of college pressure – drinking and testing drugs now play a role in their attempt to balance college work, participate in college culture, and maintain affiliations and peer relations. College Pressure 101 is an assessment survey that aims to answer the question: Does peer pressure affect college students’ attitudes toward drinking and drugs? The stance for the alternative hypothesis is taken to indicate that peer pressure bears an effect on college students’ attitudes toward drinking and drugs. Results indicate that the quality of peer relationships influences drinking. Just as peers provide support and encouragement for drinking, they can also provide support and encouragement from abstaining. Results also indicate that social learning theory offers a partial explanation for nonmedical prescribed drug use among college students.