Effects of college climate on students' binge drinking: hierarchical generalized linear model.

BACKGROUND

Few studies have investigated the effect of college-level contextual factors on students' binge drinking. Most previous studies focused on the effect of individuals' characteristics on their binge drinking.

PURPOSE

This study tested the effect of college-level contextual factors on students' binge drinking.

METHODS

The 2006 National College Health Assessment data collected from 76,542 students in 113 U.S. 4-year colleges were analyzed using the Hox five-step hierarchical random effects logistic regression models.

RESULTS

College-level variables, such as percentages of male students, marijuana users, Black students, and students with Greek affiliation, significantly predicted students' binge drinking above and beyond student-level predictors. An intraclass correlation was 0.10 in the null model, indicating that 10% of students' binge drinking could be explained by differences among colleges. Significant cross-level interactions were found between college-level variables and student-level variables.

CONCLUSIONS

In order to reduce binge drinking in college, the findings underscore the need for active intervention within the college climate that addresses drinking.