BOSTON -- Drinking rates among higher-risk drinkers on American college campuses -- those who are white, male and underage -- are significantly lower on college campuses with larger proportions of minority, female and older students. Researchers with the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study reported these findings in a study appearing in the November 2003 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The study is the first to examine the role of college student demographics and diversity in moderating binge drinking among high-risk students.

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Most significantly, however, the findings show that greater diversity on campuses may serve as a risk-protective factor, even for those who were binge drinkers in high school. The study found that incoming white freshmen who did not binge drink in high school were less likely to start binge drinking as college students if their universities had higher proportions of African-American, Latino, Asian or older students. Incoming white freshmen who were binge drinking in high school were less likely to continue drinking in this way when attending schools with higher percentages of minority or older students.

"This study has shown that having a diverse student body on college campuses is an important factor in lowering binge-drinking rates," said Henry Wechsler, principal investigator of the study and director of College Alcohol Studies at the Harvard School of Public Health. "In making decisions about admissions, colleges should recognize the many benefits of greater diversity on campus, including a possible decrease in problem drinking."

The study analyzed data from 52,312 college students at 114 predominantly white colleges from the 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2001 College Alcohol Study surveys. College student binge drinking, as defined by Wechsler and other public health researchers, is the consumption of five or more drinks in a row at least once in the past two weeks for men, and four or more drinks in a row for women. Research has shown that this style of binge drinking is associated with lower grades, vandalism, and physical and sexual violence. Students who do not binge drink experience many "secondhand effects" from the binge-drinking behavior of other students, including physical assault or unwanted sexual advances, vandalized property and interruptions of sleep or study.

Researchers examined whether an increased presence of students from groups in which alcohol is less heavily consumed had a moderating effect on those students who binge drink. Previous studies conducted by the College Alcohol Study have shown that binge-drinking rates vary greatly among certain student subgroups. For example, African-American and Asian, female and older students have lower rates of binge drinking than do white, male and younger students. Moderating effects of minority and older students on the drinking habits of high-risk students were observed at schools with small, medium and large enrollments. The moderating effect of having more female students was significant for the small and medium-size schools, but not for the large schools.

"The results may shed light on why fraternities, sororities and freshman dorms have particularly high binge-drinking rates and account for a disproportionate share of alcohol problems on campuses," Wechsler said. "These social and living arrangements tend to group higher-risk drinkers together, with little chance of their intermingling with those who drink less heavily."

"Although various interventions have been attempted to lower the level of binge drinking, to our knowledge, colleges have not yet examined housing and admissions policies, and student demographics to that end," according to the study.

The findings suggest practical solutions for predominantly white colleges, including: creating a campus environment that would attract a diverse student body; increasing the numbers of minorities on campus; encouraging more women and older students to live on campus, and in fraternity and sorority houses; and decreasing the heavy concentration on campus of likely high-risk drinkers who are overwhelmingly young, male and white.