Misperception of the norms of peer alcohol use have been documented in a number of college and university social norms interventions (Haines and Spear, 1996; Johannessen et al., 2001; Perkins and Craig, 2003; Jeffrey et al., 2003; Fabiano, 2003). It should be noted, however, that misperceptions of student alcohol use are held by all members of the college and university campus community, from the students themselves to faculty and staff (Berkowitz, 1997; Berkowitz and Perkins, 1986; University of Michigan, 1993).

In addition, two separate studies using nationwide databases drawn from colleges and universities have documented that college students typically misperceive their peer drinking norms. One of these studies (Perkins et al., 2005), based on a sample of more than 76,000 students attending 130 colleges and universities across the nation, found that, regardless of the actual campus drinking norm (i.e., be it low, moderate, or high), a consistently large percentage of students nationwide overestimated the quantity of alcohol consumed by their peers. A prior study (Perkins et al., 1999) using a nationwide database drawn from 100 colleges and universities documented that college students typically misperceive their peer substance use norms by substantially overestimating how frequently the typical students uses a variety of substances, including alcohol.

Misperception of the norms of peer alcohol use have also been documented in a statewide sample of both college and non-college young adults (Linkenbach and Perkins, 2003), as well as among middle and high school students (Beck and Treiman, 1996; Botvin et al., 2001; D'Amico et al., 2001; Haines et al., 2003; Perkins and Craig, 2003; Thombs et al., 1997; Juvonen et al., 2007).

Misperception of peer substance use is not limited to alcohol, however, A number of studies have documented misperceptions of the prevalence of cigarette smoking among peers (Haines et al., 2003; Hancock and Henry, 2003; Linkenbach and Perkins, 2003; Perkins and Craig, 2002) as well as marijuana and other illegal drugs use (Hansen and Graham, 1991; Perkins, 1985; Perkins and Craig, 2003; Perkins et al., 1999; Pollard et al., 2000; Wolfson, 2000).

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