College-Related Alcohol Beliefs and Problematic Alcohol Consumption: Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies as a Mediator.

BACKGROUND: College-related alcohol beliefs, or beliefs that drinking alcohol is central to the college experience, have been shown to robustly predict alcohol-related outcomes among college students. Given the strength of these associations, it is imperative to understand more proximal factors (i.e., closer in a causal chain leading to alcohol-related outcomes) that can explain these associations.

OBJECTIVES: The current research examined alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS) as a potential mediator of the association between college-related alcohol beliefs and alcohol outcomes among college student drinkers.

METHOD: Participants were undergraduate students from a large southeastern university (Sample 1; n = 561) and a large southwestern university (Sample 2; n = 563) in the United States that consumed alcohol at least once in the previous month.

RESULTS: Path analysis was conducted examining the concurrent associations between college-related alcohol beliefs, PBS use (both as a single facet and multidimensionally), alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related consequences (i.e., double mediation). In both samples, there was a significant double-mediated association that suggested that higher college-related alcohol beliefs is associated with lower PBS use (single facet), which is associated with higher alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences. Multidimensionally, only one double-mediation effect (in Sample 2 only) was significant (i.e., college-related alcohol beliefs → manner of drinking PBS → alcohol consumption → alcohol-related consequences). Conclusions/Importance: These results suggest that targeting these college-related alcohol beliefs as well as PBS use are promising targets for college alcohol interventions. Limitations and future directions are discussed.