Collegiate alcohol involvement and role attainment in early adulthood: findings from a prospective high-risk study

Recent research has highlighted the magnitude of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems on college campuses. However, the effects of alcohol use and abuse during the college years on early adult role attainment are not well characterized. Accordingly, this study was designed to prospectively examine relations between alcohol involvement during the college years and early adult educational and occupational attainment.

Participants (N = 429: 231 women) at low and high risk for the development of alcoholism were recruited at a large midwestern university for a study of alcohol and health during the college years. Alcohol involvement was assessed by self-report and structured clinical interviews conducted annually for 4 years. Educational and occupational attainment were assessed by self-report 6 years postmatriculation.

Alcohol involvement demonstrated a modest prospective effect on educational attainment, with a reduced effect observed when analyses controlled for academic aptitude and high school academic achievement. Prior academic achievement moderated the relation between alcohol involvement and educational attainment, such that individuals who were higher on secondary school class ranking were more negatively affected by pathologic alcohol involvement than those with lower levels of prior academic achievement. Less consistent evidence was found for prospective relations between alcohol involvement and early adult occupational attainment.

These findings indicate a modest role for alcohol involvement in negative educational outcomes, with a more pronounced negative effect of alcohol involvement on educational attainment among those who were high academic performers in high school.