Social capital in the college setting: the impact of participation in campus activities on drinking and alcohol-related harms.

OBJECTIVE: The authors aimed to replicate previous findings on social capital and harmful alcohol outcomes in the college setting and to ascertain the protective effects of additional indicators of social capital. METHODS: Over 4 years (2000-2004), the authors conducted annual cross-sectional, random-sample student surveys at 32 US institutions of higher education (N = 15,875) and constructed multilevel models to examine the association between individual- and campus-level participation in campus activities and harmful drinking outcomes. RESULTS: At the individual level, community volunteerism was protective against harmful drinking outcomes. In contrast to past research, campus-level volunteerism was not significantly associated with the outcome measures. At both the individual and campus levels, participation in a religious organization was protective. Greek membership and varsity athletic participation were risk factors at the individual level. CONCLUSIONS: Results did not corroborate previous findings and revealed mixed results for other measures of participation at the campus level. The influence of social capital on college alcohol consumption deserves further attention.