Selection and Socialization of Risky Drinking During the College Transition: The Importance of Microenvironments Associated With Specific Living Units

Risky drinking among college students differs as a function of living types, with living at Greek houses as a major risk factor. Both self-selection based on prior drinking and socialization through living environments have been shown to account for this association. However, it is not clear whether selection and socialization processes occur as a function of specific living units within living types. Multilevel models using a prospective sample of incoming college students (N = 2,392) demonstrated that (1) precollege drinking based selection into specific living units occurred within both fraternity houses and residence halls (beyond selection into the Greek system in general) and (2) socialization of extremely risky drinking among certain fraternity houses was greater than other houses (beyond greater socialization of living at fraternity houses than residence halls in general). Living unit-level precollege correlates (i.e., college attendance motives and cigarette use) and college correlates (i.e., peer drinking norms and alcohol availability) accounted for most of the selection and socialization effects. These findings highlight the importance of micro-environments associated with specific living units in risky drinking during the college transition.