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Friday class and heavy alcohol use in a sample of New Zealand college students *.

Article Excerpt
HEAVY ALCOHOL USE AMONG COLLEGE students continues to gain recognition as a public health concern, especially in light of the fact that levels of heavy drinking among college students exceed those of other young adults in the same age group (Kypri et al., 2005a; O'Malley and Johnston, 2002; Windle, 2003). Longitudinal studies indicate that the prevalence and frequency of heavy drinking increase substantially among college-bound high school students as they make the transition to college, whereas very little change in heavy drinking occurs among high school graduates who do not attend college (Bachman et al., 1997, 2002; Paschall et al., 2005). Thus, factors specific to the college environment or college attendance are likely to have an important influence on heavy drinking among college students.

Although a number of college-related social factors (e.g., living in a residence hall, fraternity membership) have been identified as risk factors for heavy drinking, less attention has focused on the importance of academic demands. Anecdotal reports from university administrators and faculty, and class scheduling reports from institutional research offices indicate that many universities in the United States and some other western countries (e.g., Australia, New Zealand) schedule fewer classes on Fridays compared with other weekdays, which may contribute to student partying, alcohol misuse, and alcohol-related problems on prior weeknights as well as the overall incidence of these problems (Hafner, 2005; Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2002; Ryan and DeJong, 1998). This belief led the NIAAA College Drinking Task Force to recommend reinstating Friday classes as a promising strategy for reducing heavy alcohol use among college students (Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2002). However, very little research has been conducted to determine whether there is actually an association between scheduling Friday classes and heavy drinking among college students.

Wood and colleagues (2005) analyzed archival class-scheduling information linked with survey data from a cohort of freshmen at the University of Missouri. Preliminary findings of their study suggest that scheduling a Friday morning class is inversely related to the level of alcohol use on Thursday nights, especially among students who reported getting drunk two to three times per month before enrolling in college and those in high-risk demographic subgroups (e.g., men and fraternity/sorority members). The effect of scheduling a Friday class on the overall frequency of alcohol use and heavy drinking was not reported in their preliminary results. Information on actual Friday class attendance was not available, limiting their conclusions regarding the apparent protective effect of scheduling a Friday class. Additionally, Wood et al. (2005) acknowledged the challenge of adjusting for student self-selection into or out of Friday classes, which could be influenced by a variety of factors not examined in their study (e.g., student's major field of study).

The present study examines the association between scheduling at least one Friday class and the pattern and levels of alcohol use and heavy drinking in a sample of New Zealand college students. Archival class-scheduling data from the largest of the participating New Zealand schools (University of Otago) indicate that since 1996, the total number of undergraduate-level courses has been consistently lower on Fridays compared with other weekdays (Monday-Thursday) on which classes are typically scheduled. Only 12%-13% of all classes were scheduled on Fridays, a pattern that has not changed since the mid-1990s. We have observed a similar pattern of Friday class scheduling based on available archival records from a number of public universities in the United States.

There are at least two general mechanisms by which alcohol consumption may be linked to having Friday classes. First, students who drink more frequently or heavily may actively seek to give themselves a longer weekend (and more...

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