College Students' Intentions to Seek Help for Alcohol Use: A Network-Informed Reasoned Action Approach

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Alcohol use is a significant public health concern on college campuses.
• Help-seeking behaviors among students experiencing alcohol problems are notably low.
• Social networks and psychosocial factors influence attitudes and norms related to help-seeking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between college students' social network characteristics and the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA).
• To examine how these factors influence intentions to seek help for alcohol use problems.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey of 1,447 college students aged 18-24 was conducted.
• Data included demographics, RAA constructs, and egocentric social network data.
• Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to assess help-seeking intentions.

Main Results:

• The Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) constructs explained approximately 40% of the variance in help-seeking intentions.
• Social network composition variables significantly increased explained variance by an additional 2.8% (p < .001).

Conclusions:

• Combining RAA constructs with social network characteristics offers a more comprehensive understanding of help-seeking intentions.
• This integrated approach can inform targeted interventions to promote help-seeking behaviors among college students with high-risk drinking patterns.