National Alcohol Screening Day is April 9

Helping Students Identify High Risk Drinking Behavior

Mar 25, 2009

NASD programs help raise awareness about problem drinking and provide resources to students who need them.

National Alcohol Screening Day is sponsored by Screening for Mental Health, Inc. (SMH), whose outreach programs address a variety of mental health and substance abuse issues. NASD’s purpose is to raise awareness of alcohol use and its impact on overall health. These screenings are particularly important for teenagers and college students, who are in their early years of alcohol use and are in particular need of prevention and intervention strategies.

Benefits of Providing Alcohol Screenings to Students

These types of screening events can be useful, non-threatening ways to reach high risk students, including those who may be reluctant to seek treatment on their own, and those who may not realize their behavior puts them at risk. Students will be able to examine and reflect upon their levels of alcohol use and have access to resources for intervention, as necessary. The early detection of problem behavior means that intervention can occur sooner, increasing the likelihood of a positive outcome.

Becoming a Screening Site for NASD

Agencies ands schools can register to become screening sites for a $20 fee. This way, they can provide immediate, convenient, on site screenings and information for their clients ands students. Available materials include educational brochures, screening forms, promotional materials, posters, giveaways, and other items. Schools and agencies can register to become screening sites through the NASD website.

For $195, colleges can also sign up to offer a year round online screening program to continue to provide students with 24 hour a day screening and referral options beyond the National Screening Day.

Teen Drinking Puts Young People at High Risk

Developmentally, teens and young adults often feel that they are invincible, and that the dangers of alcohol use do not apply to them. They can also be influenced by group behaviors and norms at parties, drinking to feel “part of the crowd”. They may also overestimate the alcohol use of their peers, thereby having an out of proportion sense of what “typical” drinking behavior is.

Teen drinkers may also underestimate their own drinking; they may not accurately remember how much they drank, what they did or said while under the influence, or other ways drinking impacts their daily life. However, “at-risk drinking includes drinking beyond moderate levels either on a regular basis or on a particular occasion.” (NASD website, 2009) Using this definition, many students may be at risk. For these reasons, it is crucial that young drinkers have the opportunity to be involved in screening programs that may detect high risk behaviors early.

Early detection of at-risk drinking behaviors is the first step to proper intervention and treatment. NASD’s outreach program offers an informative yet non-threatening, way to raise awareness about this issue.

The copyright of the article National Alcohol Screening Day is April 9 in At-Risk Youth Support is owned by Susan Carney. Permission to republish National Alcohol Screening Day is April 9 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.