Drinking study shows power of peer pressure

By Baldur Hedinsson

"Give college students a clue on how much their friends are really drinking, and those students will tend to drink less alcohol, according to a recent paper. ... A study that reviews research on different communication strategies found that individual feedback either via a computer or in person effectively reduced drinking among students. ..."

"All the studies had the same goal - to reduce drinking by educating students on how their drinking behavior compared with others on campus. The review sought to determine which methods are effective and which are not. ..."

"The review tried to determine the effectiveness of media campaigns to correct student misperception, but because of rigorous inclusion constraints, only two studies by the same researcher, William DeJong, a professor at Boston University's School of Public Health, were included in the review. One of the two showed success in reducing student drinking, and the other did not. ..."

Full article available http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/1361789.html