Identity development and alcohol consumption: current and retrospective self-reports by college students

First-year college students were asked to complete alcohol consumption and identity status questionnaires—currently and retrospectively. Trend analyses of the retrospective data and current data revealed somewhat similar inverse linear trends for identity status on absolute annual alcohol consumption. In both cases, identity sophistication was associated with lower levels of consumption. Of the students who reported an increase in consumption from the junior year of high school to the first year of college, those displaying progressive identity development reported a relatively lower increase in consumption than those displaying stable identity status. This difference approached the conventional level of significance. The implications of these findings are explored.