Recently, I attended a conference in the New England region. This conference not only 

enabled me to present my own poster on children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in China but 

also it had led me to learn from the posters that were presented. One of the posters that were presented focused on substance abuse and eating disorders among college females. The presenter Dr. Dunham addressed the issues of enabling responses, attitudes toward and knowledge about substance abuse and eating disorders. 

As I was listening to her presentation, I thought about its relationship to feminist psychology. The psychology of female college students has a lot to do with perception of others and role taking. As a result, these factors contribute to the development of cocaine abuse, bulimia, and alcohol abuse. 

Through the study, it shows that enabling behaviors are associated with abuse. For example, the process of providing money to support the abuse and making excuses for the abuse are part of the enabling behaviors. Enabling behaviors can not only negatively impact the person choices, but also can distort the person’s perceptions about the world.  For example, a college female would see alcohol abuse to be a normal when others are supporting her behaviors. 

This poster points to future directions of research in drug and alcohol preventions. Both females 

and males are in danger of enabling behaviors on campuses across the country. In terms of 

future research, perceptions of others are an important factor in relation to alcohol and drug abuse.

- Written by Shengyong Zou (Sherry)