The party's not over: Living situation, perceived party norms, and drinking games behavior among college students during the pandemic (COVID-19).

Objective

Playing drinking games (DGs) is a common, socially-interactive risky drinking activity. During the pandemic, many students either returned home to live with their parents or remained on campus. Because DGs often require social interaction, playing DGs in-person can increase students' risk for COVID-19 exposure. Thus, we examined whether living situation and perceptions of one's college/university as a party school increased risk for playing DGs in-person during a pandemic. Method: Students who reported recent alcohol use from 12 colleges/universities (n = 874; Mage = 19.38/SDage =  1.40; 75.6% White) completed self-report measures of alcohol use, DGs participation, demographics, and residential status in Fall 2020 to Spring 2021. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted.

Results

Overall, 62.8% of students played DGs in-person during the pandemic. Those who lived with roommates were at increased risk compared to those who lived with parents.

Conclusions

Given health risks of playing DGs in-person, targeted efforts may be warranted among at-risk students.