Protective Behavioral Strategies and Brief Alcohol Interventions

NCT ID: NCT01168726

Last Updated: 2017-07-13

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 365 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2010-01-31
• Study Completion Date: 2010-09-30

Brief Summary

Excessive college student drinking represents an important public health problem for both the students themselves and those with whom they interact. The objective of this research is to better understand how to reduce such high-risk drinking by improving prevention and treatment programs, which will provide an overall public health benefit. Subjects in the study will be randomized to one of two brief intervention conditions or an education-only control condition. It is hypothesized that those in the intervention conditions will report greater reductions in alcohol use and alcohol-related problems than those in the control condition.

Detailed Description

The primary objective of this project is to examine factors that are associated with the effectiveness of intervention programs designed to reduce high-risk drinking among heavy drinking college students. Previous research has found similar effect sizes for different types of multi-component, brief interventions among college students, but little research has assessed the degree to which specific components of such interventions are associated with intervention outcomes. One common component of motivational enhancing interventions among college students involves providing cognitive-behavioral self-control strategies designed to reduce one's use of alcohol, which we term "protective behavioral strategies" (PBS). However, there are two important factors that limit our understanding of the effects of PBS on client outcomes. First, the use of these strategies in motivational enhancing programs has generally not been assessed in a systematic manner, due in part to the fact that until recently a standardized measure of such strategies did not exist. Second, researchers have yet to conduct studies that dismantle the specific effects associated with the PBS component on client outcomes. That is, studies have not tested interventions with and without assessment and feedback regarding a client's use of PBS. Participants in this project will be "at-risk" college student drinkers who will be assigned to one of three conditions: a brief intervention that includes a focus on PBS, a brief intervention that does not include this focus, and an education-only control condition. Participant will complete self-report measures of alcohol-related variables at baseline, 30-day, and 6-month follow-ups. Mixed-model analyses will be used to determine the effectiveness of the intervention programs, and structural equation modeling will be used to determine if increases in PBS result in reductions in alcohol use/alcohol-related problems.

Conditions

Alcohol Consumption

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Protective Behavioral Strategies

Personalized feedback on use of protective behavioral strategies.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Protective Behavioral Strategies

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Personalized feedback on use of protective behavioral strategies.

Personalized Normative Feedback

Personalized feedback on how one's own drinking compares to relevant norms.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Personalized Normative Feedback

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Personalized feedback on how one's own drinking compares to relevant norms.

Alcohol Education

Educational information about harms associated with heavy drinking.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Alcohol Education

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Educational information about harms associated with heavy drinking.

Interventions

Protective Behavioral Strategies

Personalized feedback on use of protective behavioral strategies.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Personalized Normative Feedback

Personalized feedback on how one's own drinking compares to relevant norms.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Alcohol Education

Educational information about harms associated with heavy drinking.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• At least one binge drinking episode in the preceding month

Exclusion Criteria

• At-risk for alcohol dependence or major depressive disorder

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 24 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Missouri-Columbia

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Matthew P. Martens

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Matthew P Martens, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Missouri-Columbia

Locations

University of Missouri

Columbia, Missouri, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

1R21AA016779-01A2

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

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Protective Behaviors

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id