Research & Resources

This qualitative study sought to identify which values are important to college student drinkers and what underlying principles and motivations support those values. A sample of 198 students who received a university mandate to complete an alcohol education intervention following a campus alcohol policy violation wrote essays regarding their values. The findings showed a relative lack of future-oriented values, particularly among the heavy-drinking students. Because future orientation is associated with engaging in less risky health behaviors, results suggest it may be beneficial to cultivate goal-setting tasks early in college student education to enhance the efficacy of health promotion messages.

This paper, “Values of college students mandated to an alcohol intervention: A qualitative examination,” was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and published in the journal Substance use & misuse.