Gender differences in college binge drinking: Examining the role of depression and school stress

•Associations among binge drinking, depression and school-related stress are tested.•Data are taken from a sample of Midwestern university men and women.•Depression is indirectly and negatively associated with binge drinking for women.•Depression is directly and positively associated with binge drinking for men.•For both women and men, school-related stress is positively associated with depression.

In this paper the associations among binge drinking, depression, and school-related stress are examined for a sample of college men and women. Data are taken from a survey of 248 undergraduate students at the University of North Dakota – located in a state with high underage and binge drinking rates. The current study challenges past work showing that college women are more likely to respond to depression by binge drinking: depression is indirectly and negatively associated with binge drinking among the women in this sample through its association with school-related stress. Among men, depression is directly and positively associated with binge drinking.