Data acquired by in-home interviews collected from 11,549 18-25 year olds was analyzed to determine whether full- or part-time college attendance would be associated with drinking and driving and seat belt use when adjusting for demographics and age of onset of alcohol use, and whether these relationships would be explained by place of residence, psychosocial factors, and past month heavy drinking. Prevalence of drinking and driving in the past year was highest for full-time college students (34.2%), followed by part-time students (32.8%), and other young adults (27.9%). Full-time students were also more likely to report always wearing seat belts as a driver or passenger (76.1%/70.1%) than were part-time students (71.8%/68.6%) and other young adults (62.7%/56.7%). These relationships persisted when adjusting for demographic aspects and age of onset of alcohol use. The higher level of drinking and driving among full-time students was partially explained by psychosocial factors and past-month heavy drinking, but the higher level of drinking and driving among part-time students was not explained by these variables.
Abstract