Recent efforts to stem college student drinking and other drug use have emphasized the need to change the environment in which this behavior occurs, addressing such factors as alcohol availability, marketing and promotion, policy enforcement, alcohol-free options, and normative change. Yet, measurement of change continues to focus on individual behavior. Individual measures often are limited as indicators of program success for environmentally-focused programs. Environmental measures would serve as more immediate outcomes of environmental change efforts, allow evaluators to better evaluate the underlying theory of the initiative, and to validate individual-level measures. This session will draw on the outcomes of an expert panel on environmental measurement and other work by the presenters to describe an environmental management framework used for college prevention efforts, describe methods for measuring environmental change in each category of the framework, provide examples of colleges that are using these methods for needs assessment and program evaluation, and conclude with recommendations for development of additional measures.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to:
Keywords: Alcohol, Methodology
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.