Personalized mailed feedback for college drinking prevention: a randomized clinical trial.

The current study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a mailed feedback and tips intervention as a universal prevention strategy for college drinking. Participants (N = 1,488) were randomly assigned to feedback or assessment-only control conditions. Results indicated that the mailed feedback intervention had a preventive effect on drinking rates overall, with participants in the feedback condition consuming less alcohol at follow-up in comparison with controls. In addition, abstainers in the feedback condition were twice as likely to remain abstinent from alcohol at follow-up in comparison with control participants (odds ratio = 2.02), and feedback participants were significantly more likely to refrain from heavy episodic drinking (odds ratio = 1.43). Neither gender nor severity of baseline drinking moderated the efficacy of the intervention in these analyses, but more conservative analyses utilizing last-observation carryforward suggested women and abstainers benefited more from this prevention approach. Protective behaviors mediated intervention efficacy, with participants who received the intervention being more likely to use strategies such as setting limits and alternating alcohol with nonalcoholic beverages. Implications of these findings for universal prevention of college drinking are discussed.

[1]  D. McCarthy.  Alcohol Problems Among Adolescents. , 1996 .

[2]  Kim Fromme,et al.  Prevention of heavy drinking and associated negative consequences among mandated and voluntary college students. , 2004, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[3]  F. D. Del Boca,et al.  Talk is cheap: measuring drinking outcomes in clinical trials. , 2000, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[4]  Joseph H. Miller,et al.  Reducing Alcohol Use in College Students: A Controlled Trial of Two Brief Interventions , 2000, Journal of drug education.

[5]  Clayton Neighbors,et al.  Targeting misperceptions of descriptive drinking norms: efficacy of a computer-delivered personalized normative feedback intervention. , 2004, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[6]  K. Carey,et al.  Effects of a brief motivational intervention with college student drinkers. , 2000, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[7]  J. Prochaska,et al.  Toward a Comprehensive Model of Change , 1986 .

[8]  Patrick M. O'Malley,et al.  Monitoring the Future National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings, 2004. , 2003 .

[9]  M. Goldman,et al.  Expectancy challenge and drinking reduction: process and structure in the alcohol expectancy network. , 1998, Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology.

[10]  M. Larimer,et al.  Preventing alcohol abuse in college students: A harm-reduction approach. , 1995 .

[11]  M. Goldman,et al.  Empirical modeling of an alcohol expectancy memory network in elementary school children as a function of grade. , 1996 .

[12]  Scott T Walters,et al.  Feedback interventions for college alcohol misuse: what, why and for whom? , 2005, Addictive behaviors.

[13]  M. Larimer,et al.  College Student Drug Prevention: A Review of Individually-Oriented Prevention Strategies , 2005 .

[14]  W. Miller,et al.  Treating Addictive Behaviors , 1986, Applied Clinical Psychology.

[15]  Mick P Couper,et al.  Mode effects for collecting alcohol and other drug use data: Web and U.S. mail. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[16]  A P Turner,et al.  Evaluating a brief alcohol intervention with fraternities. , 2001, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[17]  D. Black,et al.  Recruitment to a university alcohol program: evaluation of social marketing theory and stepped approach model. , 1995, Preventive medicine.

[18]  H. Perkins.  Social norms and the prevention of alcohol misuse in collegiate contexts. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol. Supplement.

[19]  S. McCabe.  Gender differences in collegiate risk factors for heavy episodic drinking. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[20]  T. J. Morgan,et al.  Evaluating two brief substance-use interventions for mandated college students. , 2006, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[21]  R. Vuchinich,et al.  A comparison of personalized feedback for college student drinkers delivered with and without a motivational interview. , 2004, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[22]  Kypros Kypri,et al.  Assessment of nonresponse bias in an internet survey of alcohol use. , 2004, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[23]  G A Marlatt,et al.  Brief intervention for heavy-drinking college students: 4-year follow-up and natural history. , 2001, American journal of public health.

[24]  Kypros Kypri,et al.  Incentives to increase participation in an Internet survey of alcohol use: a controlled experiment. , 2003, Alcohol and alcoholism.

[25]  S. Darke,et al.  Self-report among injecting drug users: a review. , 1998, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[26]  M. Larimer,et al.  Being controlled by normative influences: self-determination as a moderator of a normative feedback alcohol intervention. , 2006, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[27]  P. Bendtsen,et al.  Feasibility of an email-based electronic screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) to college students in Sweden. , 2006, Addictive behaviors.

[28]  Patrick O'Malley,et al.  Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2018: Volume I, Secondary school students , 2000 .

[29]  Daniel R. Kivlahan,et al.  Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (Basics): A Harm Reduction Approach , 1999 .

[30]  Jane Metrik,et al.  Test-retest reliability of alcohol measures: is there a difference between internet-based assessment and traditional methods? , 2002, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[31]  M. Larimer,et al.  Identification, prevention and treatment: a review of individual-focused strategies to reduce problematic alcohol consumption by college students. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol. Supplement.

[32]  Roger Tourangeau,et al.  Survey research and societal change. , 2004, Annual review of psychology.

[33]  R. Liberman,et al.  Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders: Frontiers for Preventive Intervention Research , 1998 .

[34]  M. Goldman,et al.  Self-reported drinking and alcohol-related problems among early adolescents: dimensionality and validity over 24 months. , 1995, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[35]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[36]  M. Sliwinski,et al.  Mailed personalized normative feedback as a brief intervention for at-risk college drinkers. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[37]  Dennis L Thombs,et al.  The role of sex-specific normative beliefs in undergraduate alcohol use. , 2005, American journal of health behavior.

[38]  S. McCabe.  Comparison of Web and Mail Surveys in Collecting Illicit Drug Use Data: A Randomized Experiment , 2004, Journal of drug education.

[39]  D. Kivlahan,et al.  Secondary prevention with college drinkers: evaluation of an alcohol skills training program. , 1990, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[40]  H. White,et al.  Towards the assessment of adolescent problem drinking. , 1989, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[41]  R. Vuchinich,et al.  Relative efficacy of a brief motivational intervention for college student drinkers. , 2001, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[42]  S. Walters,et al.  Drinking on campus. What Do we know about reducing alcohol use among college students? , 2000, Journal of substance abuse treatment.

[43]  W. Miller,et al.  Effects of Normative Feedback on Consumption among Heavy Drinking College Students , 1995, Journal of drug education.

[44]  Kari K. Taylor,et al.  Protective behavioral strategies when drinking alcohol and their relationship to negative alcohol-related consequences in college students. , 2004, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[45]  M. Larimer,et al.  Approaches to brief intervention for hazardous drinking in young people. , 2004, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[46]  J. Baer,et al.  The utility of collateral informant assessment in college alcohol research: results from a longitudinal prevention trial. , 2005, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[47]  D. Simpson.  A conceptual framework for transferring research to practice. , 2002, Journal of substance abuse treatment.

[48]  Social determinants of alcohol consumption: the effects of social interaction and model status on the self-administration of alcohol. , 1985, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[49]  M. Larimer,et al.  Biases in the perception of drinking norms among college students. , 1991, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[50]  Jae Eun Lee,et al.  Erratum: Trends in college binge drinking during a period of increased prevention efforts: Findings from 4 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study Surveys: 1993-2001 (Journal of American College Health (2002) 50:5 (203-217)) , 2002 .

[51]  T. Beresford,et al.  Screening for alcoholism among medical inpatients: how important is corroboration of patient self-report? , 1998, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[52]  H. Wechsler,et al.  Trends in College Binge Drinking During a Period of Increased Prevention Efforts: Findings from 4 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study Surveys: 1993–2001 , 2002, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[53]  G A Marlatt,et al.  Screening and brief intervention for high-risk college student drinkers: results from a 2-year follow-up assessment. , 1998, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[54]  H. Liddle,et al.  Transporting a research-based adolescent drug treatment into practice. , 2002, Journal of substance abuse treatment.