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Alcohol and Sexual Risk among American College Students Studying Abroad

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Abstract

Recent studies show that during study abroad experiences, college students greatly increase their drinking behavior, experience multiple alcohol-related consequences, engage in sexual risk behaviors, and are at-risk for sexual violence victimization. These studies, however, have been limited by small sample sizes of students from single institutions who are often studying in a particular country or region. To better understand the extent of the risks experienced by college students studying abroad, we conducted a longitudinal survey study of 2630 students from 65 different US colleges and universities studying in 12 diverse locations abroad. Total drinks per week and heavy drinking days more than doubled while students were abroad, with heavier predeparture drinkers, men, and students under age 21 experiencing the greatest increases. There were few observed overall changes in alcohol-related consequences and risky sexual behaviors; however, specific groups, such as those with heavier predeparture consequences and sexual risk behaviors, men, and those on longer abroad programs reported greater consequences and risky sex abroad. One in five students (21%) experienced sexual violence abroad, with non-consensual physical contact the most prevalent form. Women, those under age 21, and those with a history of sexual violence were most likely to experience sexual violence abroad. Findings indicate that study abroad students may warrant targeted predeparture programming to help prevent heavy drinking and sexual violence experiences abroad.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the 3C Institute for online survey hosting and Michael Woodward for assistance with data collection and retention efforts.

Funding

This work was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA025909, “Online Intervention to Prevent Risky Behaviors During College Student Study Abroad Experiences”) awarded to Eric R. Pedersen. NIAAA had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407, USA

    Eric R. Pedersen, Elizabeth J. D’Amico & David J. Klein

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 2250 Alcazar Street, Suite 2200, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA

    Eric R. Pedersen

  3. Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90045, USA

    Joseph W. LaBrie

  4. RAND Corporation, 4570 Fifth Ave, Ste. #600, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Coreen Farris

  5. RAND Corporation, 1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA, 22202, USA

    Beth Ann Griffin

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  1. Eric R. Pedersen
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  2. Elizabeth J. D’Amico
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  3. Joseph W. LaBrie
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  4. David J. Klein
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  6. Beth Ann Griffin
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Correspondence to Eric R. Pedersen.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (RAND Human Subjects Protection Committee; Project Number 2017–0124) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Pedersen, E.R., D’Amico, E.J., LaBrie, J.W. et al. Alcohol and Sexual Risk among American College Students Studying Abroad. Prev Sci 21, 926–936 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-020-01149-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-020-01149-9

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