Alcohol Use Disorder in College students

Key things to know What the evidence shows
How common is it? Not established clean global; high burden in college-age populations
Is it more common among college students? Young adulthood is peak-risk period
Are college students at higher risk? Strong
How much higher is the risk? U.S. younger adults showed very high DSM-5 AUD prevalence; exact college-specific figure not isolated in source
How often can it be missed? Very High — binge drinking normalized
Does it show up differently among college students? Strong Yes
How might it look different? Binge drinking, parties, blackouts, risky behaviour and academic consequences may be normalized as student life
What commonly occurs alongside it? Other SUD; depression; anxiety; ADHD
What can it be confused with? Binge drinking vs AUD; other SUD
Common screening tool AUDIT
Separate screening tool for college students College-specific DSM-5 AUD measures exist, but AUDIT remains preferable for standardisation
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