Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Nov 2003
Do college students drink more than they think? Use of a free-pour paradigm to determine how college students define standard drinks.
Much of what is known about college drinking comes from self-report survey data. Such surveys typically ask students to indicate how many drinks they consume within a given period of time. It is currently unclear whether college students and researchers use similar operational definitions of a single drink. This information is critical given the widespread reliance on survey data for assessing the correlates and consequences of college drinking. ⋯ The data suggest that college students drink more alcohol than indicated by their survey responses, raising questions about the validity of widely used alcohol surveys. Efforts to educate students about the alcohol content of standard drinks should be enhanced.