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Heavy drinking associated problems) among university students is gaining increasing recognition as serious health concern facing colleges and universities today. For example, both Houses of Congress have urged college and university presidents to examine the issue (Higher Education Act Reauthorization of 1998, as cited in Wechsler et al., 2002). The National Institutes of Health and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has proposed reducing the proportion of persons engaging in binge drinking as a strategic goal for their "Healthy People" 2010 initiative (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). In addition, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has responded to the issue by creating a college drinking prevention Web site (http:// www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov), which highlights current research, reports, and policies designed to educate campus communities and the public at large about both the scope of the problem and the proposed interventions. Media coverage also continues to place a spotlight on heavy drinking among college students. A television program titled Smashed: Kids and Alcohol, hosted by Geraldo Rivera (Rivera, 2000), reported that each year in the United States, alcohol kills dozens of college students, and many more become injured or get into trouble as a result of excessive alcohol consumption.
Surveys of college and university students have indicated that alcohol consumption is a common occurrence on campuses today. Prevalence estimates range from 90% of students who had at least one drink in the previous year to roughly 40% of students meeting criteria for "binge drinking" or consuming five (four for women) or more drinks in a row in one sitting within the previous 2 weeks (Wechsler, Dowdall, Maenner, Gledhill-Hoyt, & Lee, 1998; Wechsler et al., 2002). Studies of alcohol use on campuses are not confined to one campus or region of the country. For example, Wechsler and colleagues (Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdall, & Moeykens, 1994; Wechsler et al., 1998; Wechsler, Lee, Kuo, & Lee, 2000) collected a large number of nationwide surveys from three different time periods in the 1990s as part of the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, an ongoing surveillance project that relies on surveys of nationally representative samples of colleges and universities. Throughout the 1990s, Wechsler and colleagues found similar rates of binge drinking: Roughly 2 in 5, or 40% of their respective samples, met criteria. In addition, the researchers found increases in the percentage of frequent binge drinkers (defined as engaging in binge drinking 3 or more times in a 2-week period) from 1993 to 1999, as well as the percentage of students who drank on 10 or more occasions in the past month. Increases were also found among students who drank to get drunk as a primary reason for drinking (Wechsler et al., 2000). More recently, Wechsler et al. (2002) found heavy, episodic alcohol use (i.e., binge drinking) among 44% of a national sample.
A sizable proportion of college students drink heavily and, in some cases, meet criteria for a behavioral disorder. For example, Clements (1999) found that 25% of a sample of college students met criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence, as defined according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), within the past 12 months. Similarly, among a large, national sample of college students, Knight et al. (2002) found that 31% of students fit criteria for an alcohol abuse diagnosis, whereas 6% endorsed criteria for alcohol dependence within the 12 months preceding the survey.
Drinking heavily negatively affects the health of students and others in the community; consequences of heavy alcohol use abound on college campuses. Syre, Martino-McAllister, and Vanada (1997) found that 38% of their sample reported arguing or engaging in fistfights due to alcohol, 53% reported being threatened by physical assault or violence, and 33% reported driving under the influence of alcohol. Clearly, the need for continued research, explanatory models, prevention, and intervention efforts related to heavy college drinking remains strong.
Durkin, Wolfe, and Clark (1999) proposed that more theory-driven research is needed on college alcohol consumption. An extensive amount of research exists that highlights the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of use. However, the atheoretical nature of such research makes explanations difficult to establish. Research grounded in theory has the advantage of offering explanatory models of drinking behavior among college students. Some investigators have used theoretical frameworks, although sparse in quantity, as the foundation of research into college drinking (Durkin et al., 1999; Korcuska & Thombs, 2003; Lewis & Osborn, 2004; Lo, 1991; Miller, Toscova, Miller, & Sanchez, 2000; Thombs, 1999a). There is a dearth of research, however, on Erikson's (1968) theory of identity formation and its potential relationship to college alcohol consumption patterns. Erikson (1968) considered identity formation a crucial psychosocial task, so crucial that he labeled its pursuit a "crisis." Failure to resolve the identity crisis may outwardly result in negative behaviors. Thus, Erikson's (1968) theory may be particularly relevant to heavy-drinking college students, who may struggle with the identity search and consequently resort to immature and deleterious behaviors, such as excessive drinking. An understanding of the connection between identity and college drinking may illuminate potential avenues for counseling students struggling with drinking problems. Consistent with Durkin et al.'s call, college alcohol consumption was explored in the current study within the context of identity theory.
Theoretical Framework
Erikson's Theory of Identity Development
Erikson's (1968) theory of ego development offered a model to both understand and measure the shaping of identity. He defined identity as the consistency of one's uniqueness for both the individual and for significant others in the person's life. Erikson (1968) described this uniformity as "sameness" and "continuity" (p. 50). Although identity formation depends on many variables, society dictates an appropriate time for its achievement, using standards such as duration, intensity, and ritualization of adolescent and young adult development (Adams, 1998). Erikson (1982) described the process of finding one's own identity, or making a commitment to one stable self-definition, as a time period when the person tries on various roles and attitudes. The individual uses experimentation, rejection, and final analysis until he or she creates a consolidated identity, one in which an individual can make appropriate decisions (Santrock, 1998).
This pattern of identity development, although mostly conveyed in psychosocial vernacular, appears consistent with recent findings from the field of neurobiology (Strauch, 2003). Neuroscientists have taken a keen interest in the development of the adolescent brain and discovered that, far from being a fixed entity by adolescence as once believed, it continues to expand its neuronal connections, especially in the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain involved in reason, judgment, and decision making). This growth pattern can even continue into the early adult years (Strauch, 2003). These findings suggest that the experimentation, rejection, and final analysis of experiences, so important in the development of identity, may be at least in part a manifestation of adolescent brain development.
The psychological pressure of completing this developmental task, as well as biological changes in the brain, can make adolescence a time of turmoil. Erikson depicted this time as a period of crisis (Adams, 1998), in which adolescents search for individuality while remaining within the boundaries of a group's principles (Erikson, 1968). However, adolescents do not focus this quest of self-discovery solely on themselves; they also exhibit deep concern for the opinions of significant individuals, particularly those within their peer groups. According to Adams, normative identity crisis creates an awareness that propels an...
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