{"id":5011,"date":"2025-07-08T03:07:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T03:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/?p=5011"},"modified":"2025-07-08T03:07:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T03:07:21","slug":"support-networks-boost-college-students-intentions-to-seek-help-for-high-risk-drinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/?p=5011","title":{"rendered":"Support Networks Boost College Students\u2019 Intentions to Seek Help for High-Risk Drinking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>College students struggling with high-risk drinking are more likely to seek help when they believe their close social connections support them, according to a new study from Texas A&amp;M University. Published in the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.15288\/jsad.24-00280\"><em>Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs<\/em><\/a>, the research combines psychological theory with social network analysis to uncover key factors influencing students\u2019 decisions to pursue assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study, led by Assistant Professor Benjamin Montemayor and former doctoral student Sara Flores, explored why fewer than 10% of college students seek help for alcohol-related issues despite widespread campus resources. High-risk drinking, defined as reaching a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher, affects 30-40% of students, with 16% meeting the criteria for alcohol use disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the Reasoned Action Approach-which examines how beliefs, social expectations, and perceived control shape behavior-the researchers analyzed survey data from 1,447 students. Participants also identified their closest social connections, revealing that supportive networks significantly strengthened intentions to seek help. While psychological factors explained 40% of the variance in help-seeking intentions, social network characteristics added an extra 2.8%, highlighting their unique role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStudents who believed their closest connections supported them were more likely to intend to seek help,\u201d Flores said. This suggests that interventions should address both individual perceptions and social influences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings underscore the importance of integrating social support into campus programs aimed at reducing high-risk drinking. While the study did not test interventions directly, it provides a foundation for designing more effective strategies to bridge the gap between recognizing a problem and seeking help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>College students struggling with high-risk drinking are more likely to seek help when they believe their close social connections support them, according to a new study from Texas A&amp;M University. Published in the&nbsp;Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, the research combines psychological theory with social network analysis to uncover key factors influencing students\u2019 decisions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1123],"tags":[726,1566,2392,1091],"class_list":["post-5011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-health","tag-health","tag-health-medicine","tag-high-risk-drinking","tag-public-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5012,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011\/revisions\/5012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}