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Prevalence

  • Prevalence of Drinking: According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 49.3% of full-time college students ages 18–22 drank alcohol in the past month.1
  • Prevalence of Binge Drinking: According to the 2021 NSDUH, 27.4% of full-time college students ages 18–22 reported binge drinking in the past month.1
  • Prevalence of Heavy Alcohol Use: According to the 2021 NSDUH, 7.3% of full-time college students ages 18–22 reported heavy alcohol use in the past month.2

1 Calculated using past 30-day quantity and frequency of alcohol use and past 30-day frequency of binge drinking (4+ drinks for females and 5+ drinks for males on the same occasion) from the 2021 NSDUH public-use data file. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Statistics and Quality [Internet]. 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH-2021-DS0001). Public-use file dataset, 2021. [cited 2023 Mar 3]. Available from: https://www.datafiles.samhsa.gov/dataset/national-survey-drug-use-and-health-2021-nsduh-2021-ds0001

2 The estimates are weighted by the person-level analysis weight and derived from the CBHSQ 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH-2021-DS0001) public-use data file. Past-month alcohol use: a drink of an alcoholic beverage (a can or bottle of beer, a glass of wine or a wine cooler, a shot of distilled spirits, or a mixed drink with distilled spirits in it), not counting a sip or two from a drink in the past 30 days. Past-month binge alcohol use: five or more drinks on the same occasion for males or four or more drinks on the same occasion for females on at least 1 day in the past 30 days. Past-month heavy alcohol use: five or more drinks on the same occasion for males or four or more drinks on the same occasion for females on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days. Full-time college students: full-time students ages 18 to 25 enrolled in school at the college level. Other persons ages 18 to 25: those not enrolled in school, enrolled in college part time, enrolled in other grades either full or part time, or enrolled with no other information available.

collegedrinkingprevention.gov

An official website of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

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