University of North Carolina Wilmington

This University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) substance abuse prevention and education program, called CROSSROADS, is a campuswide program that employs regular assessment and student-focused programming and that engages multiple partners both on and off campus to advance a harm reduction approach, including a nonuse message, to reduce alcohol and other drug abuse among students. In 2005, CROSSROADS developed a project called Changing a High-Risk Drinking Culture through the Lens of Gender, which includes 12 planned interventions grounded in a socio-ecological framework. One of the most successful components is the gender-based classroom interventions for the first-year students.

This model grant project aims to enhance several of the original project components and expand them to targeted high-risk groups. Expected outcomes include (1) a decrease in men’s and women’s binge drinking; (2) increased use of protective factors by men and women; (3) decreased alcohol-related consequences for men and women; (4) decreased recidivism in the judicial system; and (5) the development of effective gender-based alcohol interventions for high-risk groups, including fraternity and sorority members, student athletes, sports clubs members, first-year students, men, and women.