Trends of Student Alcohol and Other Drug Use at NAU

For the past three years, students at NAU have been surveyed in February concerning alcohol and other drug attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. The following is a summary of key findings from student responses.

Table 1

30 Day Prevalence Rates of Alcohol and Drug Use

	Year
30-Day Use	2006	2005	2004
Alcohol	66%	64%	68%
Tobacco	23%	31%	25%
Marijuana	13%	14%	17%

Table 2

Attitudes about Alcohol Use

	Year
Response	2006	2005	2004
Are aware of and support campus alcohol policies and regulations	52.0%	NA	51.0%
Are aware of and support drinking and driving laws	92.0%	NA	91.6%

Table 3

Mean Number of Drinks, Hours Consumed and Perception of Typical Student Drinking Last Time Drinking

	Year
Response	2006	2005	2004
Drink Number Reported	3.2	3.8	3.1
Drinking Hours Reported	2.7	2.5	2.3
Perception of Drinks Consumed by Typical Student at NAU	4.7	5.3	5.0

Table 4

Percentage of Students Reporting Alcohol-Related Behavior

	Year
Response	2006	2005	2004
Self-reported alcohol abstinence	29.0%	21.0%	29.1%
Binge drinking: 5 or more drinks the last time drinking	31.0%	33.0%	25.9%
Hazardous drinking behavior (FAST score > 3)	29.6%	27.2%	NA

Table 5

Percentage of Students Reporting Consequences of Using Alcohol with Past Academic Year

	Year
Response	2006	2005	2004
Unprotected sex under the influence of alcohol	10.2%	10.1%	9.1%
Received a DUI	9.1%	NA	11.8%
Academic difficulties	8.8%	6.9%	5.4%

These findings were drawn from the following surveys conducted on campus:

• Year 2004 Health and Wellness Survey with a sample size of 1514 and a return rate of 34%
• Year 2005 National College Assessment Survey with a sample size of 732 at a return rate of 23%
• Year 2006 Health and Wellness Survey with a sample size of 362 at a return rate of 30%

The margin of error at a confidence level of 95% associated with each survey is 2.31 % for 2004, 3.48% for 2005, and 5.05% for 2006.

Conclusions

• Alcohol is by far the most widely abused substance on campus. 
• Large numbers of NAU students continue to engage in high-risk, hazardous drinking behaviors. The prevalence of hazardous drinking appears to have remained the same in the past 3 years.
• A small but significant minority of students experience acute consequences of alcohol use. 
• A majority of students support policies, regulations, and laws regulating alcohol use. About 15% of students have reported over the years that they are unaware of the campus policies. Only about 8-10% of students report opposing campus alcohol regulations. 
• Despite widespread dissemination of social norms education programs on campus, students still continue to over-estimate the amount of alcohol consumed by other students.