Protective Influence of Residential Learning Communities

描述（由申请人提供）：大学生活安排代表了本科经历的一个缩影，也是校园文化影响学生个人的一种方式。尽管校园对饮酒有总体规范，但大学生活安排差异很大，可能鼓励或阻止酗酒。本研究申请拨款，以纵向面板设计检验先锋住宿学习社区（rlc）在减少一年级本科生酒精滥用方面的潜在保护作用。发展地区学习中心是为了加强正式学习机会与学生生活环境之间的联课联系；然而，这些rlc也可能提供一个不鼓励滥用酒精的环境。拟议的目标样本将包括总共5200名住在rlc （n= 1200）或传统宿舍（n= 4000）的一年级本科生。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Collegiate living arrangements represent a microcosm of the undergraduate experience and act as one of the ways in which the culture of the campus influences the individual student. Despite the overall campus norms on drinking, collegiate living arrangements vary greatly and can either encourage or discourage alcohol misuse. Grant funds are requested to examine the potential protective influence of pioneering residential learning communities (RLCs) in reducing alcohol misuse among first-year undergraduate students using a longitudinal panel design. RLCs were developed to enhance the co-curricular connections between formal learning opportunities and students' living environment; however, these RLCs also may provide a milieu that discourages alcohol misuse. The proposed target sample will include a total of 5,200 first-year undergraduate students living in either RLCs (n= 1,200) or traditional residence halls (n=4,000). The specific aims of this study are: (1) To assess whether first-year students in RLCs exhibit less alcohol misuse and fewer alcohol-related consequences than first-year students in traditional residence halls; (2) To longitudinally examine the mechanisms by which RLCs may affect alcohol misuse and alcohol-related consequences. In particular, the study will investigate whether a relationship between RLCs and reduced alcohol misuse and alcohol-related problems operates via environmental factors (e.g. alcohol use by roommates) and/or individual characteristics (e.g. involvement with co-curricular activities); and (3) To determine subgroups of students who benefit most from RLCs. Characteristics of RLCs (e.g. single sex) will be examined by considering appropriate groupings and comparing the degree to which students within these subgroups exhibit decreased alcohol misuse and consequences. Additionally, individual characteristics (e.g. gender, ethnicity) will be scrutinized as possible moderators of RLC effects, by studying interactions between these potential moderators and RLC status. In partnership with a research awardee under RFA AA-03-008 and NIAAA staff, student participants will self-administer a survey at three points in time: (1) baseline during freshmen orientation prior to the first academic semester; (2) during the second academic semester at 6-month follow-up; (3) during the second year at 18-month follow-up. At each measurement point, participants will complete a set of measures that assess substance use behaviors and constructs addressed by RLCs.