Study links fraternity life, later alcohol problems

Adult binge drinking rates and the presence of symptoms of an alcohol use disorder are significantly higher among college-educated individuals who lived in a fraternity house during their college experience, a new study has found.

The University of Michigan research, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, tracked high school seniors from the Monitoring the Future study via self-administered surveys taken up to age 35. The researchers found that men who had lived in a fraternity for at least one semester had significantly higher binge drinking rates during and after college than did college men not living in a fraternity or men who did not attend college.

Moreover, 45% of the fraternity-dwelling men reported two or more symptoms of an alcohol use disorder at age 35, compared with just over 30% of college students not participating in fraternity life.

The study also found a relationship between fraternity/sorority experiences and higher use of marijuana into the 30s, although symptoms of a marijuana use disorder were not more prevalent among fraternity and sorority members.