Once college freshmen wave goodbye to their parents on that first day of school, they find themselves in a whole new world. For most adolescents, it’s the first time they’ve experienced this level of independence, and it’s both exciting and stressful as they adjust to a new social, academic and physical environment.
Those first few weeks are also a time when students are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of alcohol abuse — and those dangers are great. “The big problem we’re seeing is an increase in the intensity of binge drinking,” says Dr. George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. “College presidents are hearing that students are drinking to blackout. Emergency room visits in this age group are going up, and the length of the hospital stay is going up.”
Koob attributes these increases to a “nebulous cultural shift” that has normalized a routine of “preloading” (drinking before a party), then continuing to drink at the party or bar — to the point of consuming 10 to 15 drinks by the end of the night. “It’s bad for the liver, it’s bad for the brain, it’s bad for behavior and it can be lethal,” he says. A phenomenon known as “false consensus effect” contributes to this behavior, he says: Freshmen have the expectation that everybody else drinks to excess, so they all end up doing it.
And it’s not just male students, Koob says: “Over the last few decades, the gap between how much men drink and how much women drink has continued to narrow. It used to be 10 to 1; now it’s more like 1.5 to one.” While there has been a small decline in the overall percentage of binge drinking, that decrease is smaller among females, he says.
Adolescents are also at a disadvantage purely because of their age: Research shows that the areas of their brains that control decision-making and limit impulsivity are not yet fully developed. “We now have a neurobiological basis for the 21-year-old drinking age,” Koob says.
Even at a distance, there are steps parents can take to protect their children. Here are a few do’s and don’ts for parents with teens starting college.
Do have “the talk.” “Young people are not going to want to listen,” Koob says, “but they need to know more than they knew in the past.” Give them the facts: how much it takes to get intoxicated, how much is lethal and the dangers for body and mind.
[See: 9 Reasons It Rocks to Be the DD.]
Do stay in touch. This is perhaps the most important and most obvious recommendation, Koob says. “It’s a common-sense thing: Keep the lines of communication open. You know your child better than anyone, and you’ll sense if anything is wrong.” Call, text, email, FaceTime — use any form of communication that works best for you and your teen.
Do make sure your child gets mental health “tune-ups” if needed. If your teen has experienced anxiety, social anxiety or depressive episodes in the past, know that freshman year can be a trigger — and there will be an increased risk of using drugs and alcohol to self-medicate, Koob says. Your child might need to come home to check in with a therapist, or you might need to encourage him or her to visit one on campus.
Don’t assume the college will protect your child. College policies vary and might not offer the kind of oversight parents would like to see. Familiarize yourself and your child with their college’s procedures, including “no-blame” policies that allow students to call on college staff for help for themselves or their friends. Parents should feel empowered to lobby colleges to tighten their restrictions and oversight. The NIAAA has created a website that brings together research-based information on college drinking that parents can use to inform themselves, as well as administrators at their children’s colleges.
[See: 7 Health Risks of Binge Drinking You Can’t Ignore.]
Don’t “train” them ahead of time. Some parents think they’re doing kids a favor by hosting parties and getting kids acclimated to drinking. Not a good idea, Koob says. Parents should be aware that giving alcohol to teens actually increases the risk for continued drinking and may lead to alcohol abuse later in life.
Don’t brag about how you got blitzed in college. It’s not something to be proud of. Some 70 percent of Americans consume alcohol on a regular basis, adding up to a $249 billion annual cost in terms of drunk driving, declining job performance and illness. “We need to have a more mature attitude toward drinking,” Koob says.
In collaboration with other National Institutes of Health, the NIAAA has undertaken a long-term study of 10,000 9- and 10-year-olds, looking at the impact of alcohol and drug use in adolescents over time, via neuropsychological tests and brain imaging. Koob predicts it will reveal a wealth of information — from specific biomarkers for vulnerability to whether physical exercise helps prevent alcohol use disorder. Bottom line: The more information we have, the better — for parents and for kids.
[See: 14 Ways Alcohol Affects the Aging Process.]
Jamison Monroe is founder and CEO of Newport Academy.
More from U.S. News
7 Health Risks of Binge Drinking You Can’t Ignore
14 Ways Alcohol Affects the Aging Process
9 Reasons It Rocks to Be the DD
How to Protect Your College Freshman from the Dangers of Drinking originally appeared on usnews.com
