Reconceptualizing Research on Undergraduate Alcohol Use

Abstract

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is presented as an unrecognized and urgently needed approach for addressing the persistent public health concern of college student drinking in the United States. A major contention of this article is that the lack of progress in reducing alcohol-related harm among college students during the past several decades has been the research community's failure to effectively engage and collaborate with undergraduates on shared concerns. The challenges of addressing college student drinking are reviewed, distinctive features of CBPR are described, and suggestions are provided for adopting CBPR as a more viable approach than those offered by traditional campus strategies.