Harvard College Alcohol Study: Student Substance Use and Health Survey

The Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS) is a multi-round survey examining alcohol abuse and high-risk behaviors among students at four-year colleges. It collects data on substance use, campus policies, personal difficulties from drinking, sexual activity, and overall health. Background variables include demographics, parental education, and parental drinking habits.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the relationship between campus alcohol policies and student drinking behaviors based on survey responses.
• Studying correlations between fraternity/sorority membership and substance use from demographic and behavior columns.
• Investigating links between personal background (e.g., parental drinking habits) and student alcohol use.
• Modeling risk factors for adverse outcomes like missed classes, injury, or drunk driving from reported difficulties.

Strengths

• Multi-round longitudinal design, with explicit mention of surveys conducted in 1993, 1997, and 1999.
• Covers a wide range of topics including substance use, sexual health, academic performance, and personal background.
• Open Access license facilitates reuse and analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and specific file formats are unknown across all sources.
• The dataset's age may limit its relevance to contemporary college student behaviors.
• Descriptions are repetitive across sources, suggesting potential lack of detailed, platform-specific documentation.

Provenance

Source

Henry Wechsler, Harvard University

Collection Method

Survey data collected from students at four-year colleges.

Time Range

1993-1999 (based on referenced survey rounds: 1993, 1997, 1999)

Geography

United States (implied from institutional context and reference to state alcohol control measures)