Alcohol Health Education Among College Drinkers
- Conditions
- College Student Drinking
- Registration Number
- NCT03433794
- Lead Sponsor
- Abby Braitman
- Brief Summary
Alcohol use among college students is both widespread and problematic. There are many negative consequences associated with frequent alcohol use, ranging from mild (e.g., hangovers, missed classes) to severe (e.g., assault, even death). Online interventions targeting alcohol use among college students reduce alcohol consumption and associated problems. These interventions are popular among colleges because they are relatively inexpensive and easily disseminated. However, online interventions are not as efficacious as face-to-face interventions, such as brief motivational interviews. The proposed project employs emailed boosters in a randomized, controlled trial in an effort to improve the efficacy an existing, popular, free online intervention, while at the same time maintaining low cost and easy dissemination.
Adding boosters after interventions is a common technique to improve the efficacy of the original intervention. Boosters have been used successfully for alcohol use interventions among those seeking injury treatment in emergency medical settings. However, prior research has not supported booster efficacy for college student alcohol interventions. The current project develops and evaluates the effectiveness of boosters for a widely-used college student alcohol intervention. Specifically, the present project improves boosters by providing easy access via email; providing succinct, personalized feedback; and providing reminders of protective behavioral strategies. To test the effectiveness of adding boosters, participants randomized to alcohol-intervention-plus-boosters receive emails 2 weeks after the intervention with tailored feedback based upon their reported alcohol consumption. Participants are assessed up to nine months. The current research addresses the following specific aims:
Aim 1: Improve the efficacy of an easily-disseminated computerized intervention by adding personalized follow-up boosters, where efficacy is evidenced by reduced drinking and negative alcohol-related consequences (i.e., stronger effect sizes in the booster group immediately after receiving the booster).
Aim 2: Extend the duration of the reduction in drinking and associated problems through the use of these personalized follow-up boosters (i.e., significant differences between the booster and control groups at later timepoints).
Aim 3: Examine protective behavioral strategies highlighted by the booster as mediating behavioral mechanisms of change.
- Detailed Description
Alcohol use within the college student population is both widespread and problematic. There are many negative consequences associated with frequent alcohol use, ranging from mild (e.g., hangovers, missed classes) to severe (e.g., assault, even death). College student alcohol use is a significant problem, and reducing consumption and associated problems is a priority among researchers, educators, and mental health professionals who work with this population.
Online interventions targeting alcohol use among college students reduce alcohol consumption and associated problems. These interventions are popular among colleges because they are relatively inexpensive and easily disseminated. However, online interventions are not as efficacious as face-to-face interventions, such as brief motivational interviews. The current project employs emailed boosters in a randomized, controlled trial in an effort to improve the efficacy an existing, popular, free online intervention, Alcohol 101 Plus (TM), while at the same time maintaining low cost and easy dissemination.
Adding boosters after interventions is a common technique to improve the efficacy of the original intervention. Boosters have improved the efficacy or effect duration for interventions targeting smoking cessation, mammograms, dating violence, caregiver skills, binge eating, and many other behaviors. Boosters have been used successfully for alcohol use interventions among those seeking injury treatment in emergency medical settings. Despite these successes, prior research has not supported booster efficacy for college student alcohol interventions. The current project develops and evaluates the effectiveness of boosters for a widely-used college student alcohol intervention by improving on the design of boosters. Specifically, the present project improves boosters by providing easy access via email to minimize burden; providing succinct, personalized feedback; and providing reminders of protective behavioral strategies. To test the effectiveness of adding boosters, participants randomized to the alcohol-intervention-plus-boosters condition receive emails 2 weeks after the intervention with tailored feedback based upon their reported alcohol consumption. Participants are initially assessed biweekly, then every three months up to nine months. The current research addresses the following specific aims:
Aim 1: Improve the efficacy of an easily-disseminated computerized intervention by adding personalized follow-up boosters, where efficacy is evidenced by reduced drinking and negative alcohol-related consequences (i.e., stronger effect sizes in the booster group immediately after receiving the booster).
Aim 2: Extend the duration of the reduction in drinking and associated problems through the use of these personalized follow-up boosters (i.e., significant differences between the booster and control groups at later timepoints after the significant differences between the intervention-only and control groups erode).
Aim 3: Examine protective behavioral strategies highlighted by the booster as mediating behavioral mechanisms of change.
3A: Determine if increased exposure to protective strategies through an emailed booster results in increased use of these strategies.
3B: Determine if those who increase their use of protective behavioral strategies decrease their alcohol consumption and related problems they experience.
3C: Assess the combination of these two effects (i.e., the indirect effect). The proposed study will be a critical first step to adapt existing online interventions. The findings from this study will be used to identify implications for modifying the protocol or booster.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 537
- Current college students at the sponsor institution at the time of enrollment
- Between the ages of 18 and 24
- Consumed at least standard drink of alcohol in the past 2 weeks
- Under age of 18
- Over age of 24
- Not a college student
- Did not drink alcohol in the past 2 weeks
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Alcohol Consumption Past 2 weeks, reported at Baseline assessment (pre-intervention) Participant self-reported number of standard drinks consumed by participant over the past 2 weeks
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Alcohol-related Consequences Past 2 weeks, reported at Baseline assessment (pre-intervention) Participant self-report on the Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (YAACQ; Read, Kahler, Strong, \& Colder, 2006), which assesses alcohol-related problems experienced by the participant. Total scores are created by summing all individual items, and range from 0 to 48, with higher values representing more problems experienced (i.e., worse outcomes).