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Abstract:
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The present cross-cultural study attempted to identify high-risk subgroups for alcohol consumption among college students using classification trees. Sixty-six American and 66 Greek college students responded to a number of questions regarding alcohol consumption, religious beliefs, attitudes toward drinking, advertisement influences, parental monitoring, and drinking consequences. Heavy drinkers in the U.S. group were characterized by their younger age and lack of religiosity. In contrast, infrequent drinkers were older and more religious. In the Greek group, heavy drinkers denied the negative results of alcohol and used a permissive attitude to justify their drinking, whereas infrequent drinkers were more likely to be monitored by their parents. Classification trees may provide a useful analytical tool in identifying high-risk populations in the field of substance abuse.
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