Past Event

Understanding Negative Affect and Heavy Drinking in University: How a focus on timing of risk can create opportunities to promote student health and success

Depressed affect and heavy or binge drinking are two of the most pervasive health problems facing university students today. We are beginning to see high rates of negative affect disorders such as depression and anxiety building in university student populations, and schools focus their efforts on reducing stigma and encouraging students to seek help (or to assist their friends in seeking help). At the same time, rates of heavy drinking (consuming 5 or more drinks within a single sitting) among university students remain high, and social expectations and campus culture promote and reward alcohol consumption in quantities that pose serious personal and public health risks. Because heavy drinking is an extremely social phenomenon in university that is largely connected to feeling good, we don’t have a strong grasp of the circumstances that might lead students to drink to manage negative feelings; a mechanism linked in other populations to alcohol abuse and disorder. This presentation will review some research results that focus on the timing of affective experiences to help explain the link between negative affect and heavy drinking in university students.