Friends don't let Jane hook up drunk: A qualitative analysis of participation in a simulation of college drinking-related decisions

LET'S TALK ABOUT IT (LTAI) (Lederman, Stewart, Bates, Greenberg, LeGreco, & Schuwerk, 2007), a scenario-based alcohol prevention simulation, has been used in a curriculum infusion design to promote healthy alcohol-related decision making among college students. Its use offers a unique research opportunity to explore students' beliefs and talk about sex and friendships in the culture of college drinking. This study examines students' alcohol-related decisions and discussion of those decisions. In the simulated drinking context LTAI, participants have to decide what to do about an intoxicated female friend in a scenario in which a new male acquaintance invites her to go to his place. A qualitative observation and analysis of 141 undergraduate students' discussions about the situation and their decisions in it about how to treat their friend revealed two major themes: the importance of relational factors in students' decision making, and the variety of communicative strategies employed to protect their friends. In addition, the use of curriculum infusion and simulations regarding college drinking provided students with complex yet salient communication problems to investigate while also addressing a major health concern.