BLACK OUT OR BACK OUT Alcohol and its affects on the Gen Z college experience By Eli Meschko For some people who have an addiction, it can be the loudest thing in their brain, A&M health promotion specialist Megan Buck said. For many students, this addiction can be alcohol as the high-risk period for binge drinking for college students is the first six weeks of their freshman year, according to the Alcohol Rehab Guide. While alcohol can be seen as a part of social life in college, for some it can spiral out of control and carry high-risk behaviors. It’s worth noting that Gen Z generally drinks less than older generations and are the fastest growing consumers for non-alcoholic beverages, according to Statista. Although Gen Z drinks less, the rates of alcohol use disorders have remained around 15% in 18 to 25 year olds from 2012 to 2021, according to the 2021 study by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. In 2019, there were 104,000 19-yearold college students who had an alcohol use disorder, according to a 2021 study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The same study found that the number of students with a disorder grew to 231,000 by age 21. “There are correlations between the onset of use and early exposure to a substance,” Dr. Benjamin Montemayor said, an assistant professor in health behavior. “It is hard to say whether exposure and addiction are linked, but people who are exposed earlier are more likely to develop a disorder.” College students are more at risk of developing an alcohol-use disorder due to the availability of alcohol around college, Dr. Adam Barry said, the head of the Department of Health Behavior. “College is a wet environment; there’s more alcohol around it,” Barry
said. “If you look at a college campus footprint, you’re going to have alcohol outlets like bars and restaurants. So, you have young individuals who come into college with more freedom mixed with the density of alcohol outlets around campus.” This can lead to high-risk behaviors, Barry said. There are 1,519 college students aged 18-24 who die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes every year, according to statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. “College-aged individuals, typically 21-24 year olds are more likely to engage in driving after drinking,” Barry said. “You have less experienced people who have a tendency to engage in more risky, impulsive behaviors. All that combined make college students a high-risk group in engaging in impaired driving.” While the influence of alcohol around campuses can cause a student to develop a bad habit, there are other things like peer pressure, Montemayor said. “It’s not like the peer pressure we saw in those videos in high school,” Montemayor said. “It is more about people’s desire to fit in rather than the pressure to fit in.” The desire to fit in is a natural need, Buck said, adding that humans want to have people they can trust and have fun with. “The people who have accepted you into their community might engage in substances,” Buck said. “It’s just naturally going to be harder for you to resist that.”
Ways to reach out Buck is also a facilitator for the SMART Recovery program at A&M. She said the program is designed to be peers helping peers and teaches problem-solving skills and strategies.
15% rate of alcohol abuse in 18 to 25 year olds from 2012 to 2021
“I encourage people to sign up for a SMART Recovery meeting,” Buck said. “If you want to talk to someone one-on-one, you can email our office and we can schedule some time to talk things through. It also doesn’t mean anything has to happen after that either.” Students who wish to reach out can contact health promotion at healthpromotion@tamu.edu or call 979845-0280.
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