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ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this study was to conduct a needs assessment of a college-based safe ride program to reduce the negative consequences of alcohol use. This cross-sectional, mixed-method study used an online survey (n = 363). Demographic variables, alcohol-related behaviors, and attitudes towards drinking and driving, and safe ride programs were reported. Participants (60.2%) had ridden with someone who had consumed alcohol before driving orperceived others would do so (94.3%). The majority (85.4%) agreed that a safe ride program was needed, several themes emerged in the qualitative data that supported the statistical data reporting drinking and driving as a problem and supported the need for a safe ride program.
Keywords: alcohol, safe ride program, college students, drunk driving
INTRODUCTION:
Alcohol misuse is considered a significant health concern among the college-aged (18-24) popu-lation. As per the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 52.5% of full-time college students used alcohol in the past month (SAMHSA, 2019). One-third of full-time undergraduate college students in the United States drink excessively, i.e., 5 drinks or more in a 2-hour period for males or 4 drinks for females, which includes heavy and binge drinking (Lipari & Jean-Francois, 2016).
Many college students perceive drinking as a part of the collegiate experience, and heavy drinking is an acceptable form of cultural risk-taking (Wolfer, 2014; Tan, 2012). Alcohol consumption is higher for students living on campus due to environmental and social influences and normative expectations (Lorant et al., 2013). Also, freshmen are especially vulnerable to the risks of alcohol as they adjust to college life with little or no parental supervision, experiencing stressful academic life, and dealing with high peer pressure. It is well known that many students value their peer endorsement and feedback when engaging in positive or negative behaviors. Kenney et al (2018) suggests peers that approve of heavy drinking lead to higher drink consumption among college students. Windle et al. (2017) determined that alcohol use was higher among college students if their social influences, be it parents or friends, engaged in the activity. Peer social media posts and network engagement also influenced student drinking (Roberson et al., 2018). Also, most of the time, in college environments, alcohol tends to...