Psychosocial inventory among first-year college students by patterns of alcohol use.

We surveyed 1703 first-year students at the University of Virginia one month after arrival who used alcohol at some time in their lives. Our survey looked at drinking practices and psychosocial patterns. Men drank more and more often than women. Our data suggest that in defining frequent heavy drinkers, one should consider body weight. Now, we define frequent heavy drinking as five or more drinks in a row at least weekly for men, and for women, we use three to four drinks or more in a row at least weekly. Frequent heavy drinkers and students with psychosocial problems appeared disproportionately among students planning to join fraternities and sororities. We believe efforts to correct alcohol abuse and addiction by college students must focus, at least in part, on social organizations, especially fraternities and sororities. Also, we must attend to psychosocial features that predispose to alcohol abuse and addiction.