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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Introduction
College presidents described alcohol misuse as the single greatest threat to the
quality of campus life in a 1990 survey (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching, 1990). A review of the literature focused on the study of alcohol use among
college students supports that claim. The history of such literature will be discussed in the
first half of this review of literature. A discussion of trends will follow.
Widespread abuse of alcohol by college students has not only led to personal
problems for the alcohol abusers, but also negative secondhand effects experienced by
their peers (Green, Uryasz, Petr, & Bray, 2001; Johnson & Bogle, 2001; Leichliter,
Meilman, Presley, & Chashin, 1998; Nelson & Wechsler, 2000). Two major recent
national surveys report that more than 2-in-5 students stated that they binge drank at least
once in the past two weeks (Wechsler, Dowdall, Davenport, & Rimm, 1995; O’Malley &
Johnston, 2002).
The problem is even larger among student-athletes, who report drinking even
more than their non-athlete peers (Nelson & Wechsler, 2000). Such behavior may result
from the strong social ties formed in a team setting. These social ties are often associated
with binge drinking (Messner, 2002; Nelson & Wechsler, 2000; Overman & Terry, 1991;
Waldron & Krane, 2005). Along with an increase in dangerous drinking comes an
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