Running head : ALCOHOL AND ADJUSTMENT IN COLLEGE STUDENTS 1 Alcohol Consumption and College Adjustment among College Students by Generational Status

This study focused on alcohol consumption and college adjustment of 227 students classified as either first-generational college students (FGCS) or non-first generational college students (NFGCS). Chi-square analyses were used to examine differences in frequency of alcohol consumption and binge drinking. A MANCOVA was used to assess differences in social and academic adjustment by generational status. No significant differences were found between groups for academic adjustment or alcohol consumption. A marginally significant difference was observed between groups for social adjustment in that FGCS reported lower social adjustment than NFGCS, F (1,175) = 3.782, p =.053. Although not statistically significant, the findings of the current study provide insight into some factors that may be affected by a student’s generational status. This study also provides ideas for new directions in future research. ALCOHOL AND ADJUSTMENT IN COLLEGE STUDENT 3 Alcohol Consumption and College Adjustment among College Students by Generational Status Students face many new challenges and lifestyle changes as they transition from high school into college life. In today’s society, one of the major changes during this time period is the prevalence of alcohol consumption among these undergraduate students. Research done by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA, 2013) goes so far as to state that students view drinking as in integral part of their college experience, and that more than 80% of college students drink alcohol. Earlier research observed that more than two of every five students reported at least one symptom of abuse or dependence, and that these students coming from heavy drinking college environments were more likely to have abuse and dependence diagnoses (Knight et al., 2002). The high percentages of students consuming alcohol in college combined with the abuse and dependence statistics have led researchers to examine drinking among college students more closely. The nature of alcohol consumption among college students often differs from drinking later in life; therefore, the way in which college drinking is measured also differs in the literature. A number of studies assessing alcohol consumption among students have used measures such as the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI; White & Labouvie, 1989), which focuses on alcohol problems of adolescents and young adults, or the Daily Drinking Questionnaire (DDQ; Collins, Parks, & Marlatt, 1985), which allows researchers to examine variability in weekend vs. weekday alcohol consumption, a pattern of drinking behavior that is more relevant to college students than other populations (e.g. Kazemi et al., 2012; LaBrie, Ehret, Hummer, & Prenovost, 2012; Murphy, McDevitt-Murphy, & Barnett, 2005). These measures are geared towards ALCOHOL AND ADJUSTMENT IN COLLEGE STUDENT 4 developing interventions to decrease future alcohol consumption in students, and research aims to identify factors that could be predictors of these substance use behaviors. The current study will examine several factors, including college adjustment and generational status, to see how they relate to alcohol consumption among college students. Adjustment assesses the way a student is adjusting to their new college environment. It has been shown that individuals with adjustment problems in school seem to have difficulty controlling the negative consequences of their drinking, even relative to their other peer groups who were drinking similar amounts (Weinberger & Bartholomew, 1996). This does not necessarily mean that students with poorer adjustment are drinking more, but it does tell us that there may be some type of relationship that exists between adjustment and alcohol consumption among college students. For example, it has been found that stronger positive reinforcement motives (i.e., drinking for social enhancement) were related to better adjustment to college (LaBrie, Ehret, Hummer, & Prenovost, 2012). This being said, it was also found that these positive reinforcement motives are particularly risky because they are associated with alcohol-related consequences and linked to particularly heavy drinking. This is an indication that drinking for social enhancement and becoming socially welladjusted in this way may be related to heavy alcohol consumption. This again could mean that there may be some type of relationship to be investigated between alcohol use and adjustment. This also supports the idea that adjustment is a complex concept, and can be defined on multiple