(PS6-B50) Social Impressions of Drinking as Predictors of Drinking Game Consequences in College Students

           Drinking game participation is a hazardous alcohol-related activity that is especially salient among college students, with over half of college-aged drinkers having reported playing drinking games (Read, 2014). College drinkers who participate in drinking games often have specific social motivators for drinking that can lead to increased alcohol consumption and negative consequences such as aggression, physical discomfort, or unwanted sexual behavior (Hoyer & Correia, 2022). Therefore, it is important to examine potential alcohol-related social factors that predict these experienced consequences in the context of drinking game behavior.

Self-report, cross-sectional data were collected from 519 college students. Participants were 33.5% men, 65.5% women with ranging in age from 18-25 years old (M=19.00). The Social Impressions while Drinking Scale (SIDS; Buckner & Matthews, 2012) assessed seven social aspects of drinking behaviors (i.e., Evaluation Fears, Tension-Reduction, Aggression, Interaction Fears, Sexual Facilitation, Gregariousness, and Observation Fears). The Hazardous Drinking Games Measure (HDGM; Borsari et al., 2014) assessed negative consequences  following 30 day engagement in drinking games. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identifications Test (AUDIT; Saunders et al., 1993) assessed past year alcohol use/problems. We regressed the subscales of SIDS on drinking game consequences, while statistically controlling for the effects of alcohol use/problems.

Multivariate regression was conducted to determine each SIDS factors' unique contribution to drinking game consequences. Of the 519 college students surveyed, 57.8% engaged in drinking game behaviors in the past month. Among those who endorsed past 30 day drinking game engagement, the overall regression model was significant for drinking game related consequences, R²= .353, F(8, 266) = 18.18, p < .001. Alcohol use/problems positively and significantly associated with drinking game consequences β  = 0.12, t = 8.67, p < .001. Of the SIDS factors, four of the seven factors were significantly associated with drinking games consequences including: Aggression (β  = 0.07, t = 2.58, p = .01), Gregariousness (β  = -0.095, t = 2.57, p = .01), Sexual Facilitation (β  = 0.06, t = 2.37, p = .02), and Tension Reduction (β  = 0.05, t = 2.16, p = .03).

The aggression subscale of the SIDS uniquely predicted alcohol related problems (Borsari et al., 2014). Our findings suggest that social aspects of drinking including aggression, gregariousness, sexual facilitation, and tension reduction are risk factors for negative consequences of drinking game engagement, even when controlling for past year alcohol use/problems. College intervention programs for hazardous alcohol use should consider addressing these social aspects of drinking.