The attitude of friends about drinking has more impact on college students' alcohol use than the social-norms campaigns favored by many educators, Medical News Today reported Oct. 7.

Researchers at Penn State University found that nearly three out of four college students didn't believe the standard message of social-norms campaigns -- that most students have four or fewer drinks at a sitting.

A slim majority of students said they typically have five or more drinks at a time, and nearly all of these drinkers said their friends drank similar amounts of alcohol. Among students who did usually have four or fewer drinks at a sitting, only 42 percent thought that most other students drank similar amounts, while 58 percent believed that most students typically had five or more alcoholic drinks when they partied.

"Disbelief in the campaign message may have resulted from the behavior observed by students among their friends and acquaintances, which contrasted with the 0-4 message," said study co-author Dr. Ann Major of Penn State's Jimirro Center for the Study of Media Influence. "Also, some students may discount social-norms campaigns as an attempt by university administrators to control their behavior."

"The study emphasizes the complex and social nature of human interaction," Major said. "Social-norms messages proved to be ineffective among target hard-core drinkers because they have little concern for what others think and do. Educators may need to consider multiple approaches to alcohol education with messages that are designed to target the specific needs of student groups and to acknowledge the power of their social networks."

The researchers did find that social-norms campaigns led many students to consider the problematic aspects of binge drinking. "Women were the largest group of students who did think about the binge-drinking problem and expressed concern about getting into trouble with police and [were] more likely to believe in the effectiveness of the social norms information campaigns," the study noted. "But it may be likely that men have greater social acceptance of heavy drinking and affiliated behaviors."

The research appears in the journal Health Communication.