New research from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health reveals that college students who tailgate and pre-party before sporting events are more likely to take part in unsafe alcohol use and abuse other substances.
Researchers surveyed 816 students, asking them whether they had participated in pregaming before a live sporting event in the previous year and collected data on their substance use in addition to important demographic information such as gender, race and ethnicity, classification in school, and Greek organization affiliation.
New research from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health reveals that college students who tailgate and pre-party before sporting events are more likely to take part in unsafe alcohol use and abuse other substances.Â
Researchers surveyed 816 students, asking them whether they had participated in pregaming before a live sporting event in the previous year and collected data on their substance use in addition to important demographic information such as gender, race and ethnicity, classification in school, and Greek organization affiliation.
The researchers asked respondents if and how often they pregamed or drank before a live university sporting event that they attended in person, and asked participants to self-report on their drinking frequency (number of days) over the past month. The survey also measured how frequently they used cannabis or other drugs over the same period and the percentage of their peer students the participants believed also used alcohol recently (descriptive norms).
The percentage of students who engage in high-risk drinking during any given month has been pegged at about 30 to 40 percent, while the percentage of those who consume alcohol and use cannabis sits at around 25 percent.Â
According to Texas A&M Today, the researchers found that pregaming was associated with alcohol use by college students who had violated their university’s alcohol policy, accounting for important demographic factors. Although this is not in itself surprising, the analysis also found a two-day increase in alcohol use frequency for each separate pregaming event. Montemayor and Barry also found that students who pregamed were around 2.5 times more likely to use cannabis or other drugs with alcohol. These findings reinforce previous research on polysubstance use.
“Throughout the nation, students come to large campuses in the fall and immerse themselves in their college’s sport culture. Some gameday cultures may lead to a perceived view of alcohol use around campus that normalizes the behavior,” said Dr. Benjamin Montemayor, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior. “This sends mixed messages to students on campus about alcohol use policies and further complicates a university’s aim to protect the health and well-being of their students.”
