Most Men Don't Want Hard-Drinking Dates, Study Shows
Miscommunication between genders continues to be an issue on many of today's college campuses. Case in point: Many college women believe that college men are drawn to them when they've been drinking excessively. Except the truth, according to a new study, is that 71% of these women overestimate the amount of alcohol that the typical college man hopes his date would imbibe.

Drinking to attract male attention and to pursue intimate relationships was a rationale found by the study done at Loyola Marymount University. "There is a great, and risky, disconnect between the sexes," lead author Joseph LaBrie, an associate professor of psychology at the campus, told The Washington Times (3/10/09). "While not all women may be drinking simply to get a guy's attention, this study may help explain why more women are drinking at dangerous levels."

Research shows that college women have been drinking more and more — binge drinking is up 22% among college women, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. This is double the increase seen among college men.

What parents can do in the midst of this scenario is to share these types of statistics with their students. Females need to know that men aren't necessarily looking for the "girl gone wild" when it comes to alcohol. And males need to know that these assumptions are out there so they can set the record straight. Healthier students and healthier relationships are on the line.