College Students More Likely to Drink on Thursday Nights If They Have Late Classes on Friday
Holding classes on Fridays, especially before 10 am, may reduce excessive drinking on Thursday nights by college students, according to a study of undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university. Students reported higher rates of drinking on Thursday night when their Friday classes started at later times, or when they did not have Friday classes at all. For example, 31% of male students with a Friday class starting between 8 and 9 am reported having at least one drink on Thursday night, compared to 48% of those with a class starting at 12 pm or later and 54% with no Friday classes (see figure below). Similar results were found for binge drinking on Thursday night.
The effect of Friday class scheduled held even after controlling for factors associated with drinking, such as pre-college heavy drinking, involvement in Greek activities, and number of attempted credit hours. The authors conclude that “early Friday classes represent a cost-effective way to reduce alcohol consumption on campus, and controlled evaluations of altering the class schedule should be undertaken”(p. 1206).
SOURCE: Adapted by CESAR from Research; Wood, Phillip K., Sher, Kenneth J., and Rutledge, Patricia C. “College Student Alcohol Consumption, Day of the Week, and Class Schedule,”Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research31(7):1195-1207, 2007.
CESAR. A Weekly FAX from the Center for Substance Abuse Research July 9, 2007Vol. 16, Issue 27
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