Text-based Alcohol Prevention for First Year College Students
| Status: | Recruiting |
|---|---|
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 18 - 20 |
| Updated: | 3/8/2019 |
| Start Date: | September 5, 2018 |
| End Date: | April 2019 |
| Contact: | Kate B Carey, PhD |
| Email: | kate_carey@brown.edu |
| Phone: | 401-863-6558 |
Correcting Exaggerated Drinking Norms With a Mobile Message Delivery System
This project aims to combat excessive perceived norms that contribute to high volume drinking
by young adults, which adversely affects health and academic achievement. Campus-specific
survey data will be used to craft accurate, pro-moderation campus norms, and deliver them to
first-year students via daily text messages during the first semester of college. It is
predicted that those receiving regular exposure to pro-moderation drinking norms will reduce
their alcohol consumption and consequences, relative to students who receive
non-alcohol-related control texts. This preliminary evaluation uses a novel method of
delivering drinking norms and will lay the groundwork for future efforts to scale up this
novel alcohol misuse prevention approach.
by young adults, which adversely affects health and academic achievement. Campus-specific
survey data will be used to craft accurate, pro-moderation campus norms, and deliver them to
first-year students via daily text messages during the first semester of college. It is
predicted that those receiving regular exposure to pro-moderation drinking norms will reduce
their alcohol consumption and consequences, relative to students who receive
non-alcohol-related control texts. This preliminary evaluation uses a novel method of
delivering drinking norms and will lay the groundwork for future efforts to scale up this
novel alcohol misuse prevention approach.
Using mobile technology that most students already have in their pockets, this study
evaluates a novel use of SMS text messages to change campus drinking norms. The aim is to
correct exaggerated perceptions of drinking norms, and thereby reduce excessive drinking, by
delivering daily text messages representing accurate, campus-specific, pro-moderation
descriptive norms (what others do) and injunctive norms (what others approve of). It is
predicted that with repeated exposure over time, this information will compete with other
sources of normative information to which students are exposed during their first year of
college. This exploratory study is designed to develop and refine message content and to
pilot test the delivery methods.
First year students (N=120) who are underage but report risky drinking (>4/day or >14/week
for men; >3/day or >7/week for women) will be randomly assigned to two conditions differing
by text content: alcohol norms or attention control. All will receive daily text messages
throughout 10 weeks in the first semester of college. Process measures, 3-month post-test,
and 3-month follow-up assessments will yield feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary
outcome data to inform future larger scale randomized trials. Specifically, baseline,
post-test, and 3-month follow-up assessments will allow us to test the hypotheses that the
corrective norms intervention will reduce (a) perceived descriptive and injunctive norms, (b)
drinking behavior (including high-volume drinking and risky consumption practices), and (c)
alcohol-related consequences, and increase (d) protective behavioral strategies, relative to
the control condition.
At the end of this project the investigative team will have gathered data on both descriptive
and injunctive norms on a range of drinking behaviors to identify topics in need of
corrective normative feedback, refined the structure and content of the text messages, and
pilot tested the text-delivered intervention in a small scale RCT. The proposed research will
provide evidence of feasibility and efficacy of a text-based alcohol norms intervention for
reducing excessive drinking among first-year students.
evaluates a novel use of SMS text messages to change campus drinking norms. The aim is to
correct exaggerated perceptions of drinking norms, and thereby reduce excessive drinking, by
delivering daily text messages representing accurate, campus-specific, pro-moderation
descriptive norms (what others do) and injunctive norms (what others approve of). It is
predicted that with repeated exposure over time, this information will compete with other
sources of normative information to which students are exposed during their first year of
college. This exploratory study is designed to develop and refine message content and to
pilot test the delivery methods.
First year students (N=120) who are underage but report risky drinking (>4/day or >14/week
for men; >3/day or >7/week for women) will be randomly assigned to two conditions differing
by text content: alcohol norms or attention control. All will receive daily text messages
throughout 10 weeks in the first semester of college. Process measures, 3-month post-test,
and 3-month follow-up assessments will yield feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary
outcome data to inform future larger scale randomized trials. Specifically, baseline,
post-test, and 3-month follow-up assessments will allow us to test the hypotheses that the
corrective norms intervention will reduce (a) perceived descriptive and injunctive norms, (b)
drinking behavior (including high-volume drinking and risky consumption practices), and (c)
alcohol-related consequences, and increase (d) protective behavioral strategies, relative to
the control condition.
At the end of this project the investigative team will have gathered data on both descriptive
and injunctive norms on a range of drinking behaviors to identify topics in need of
corrective normative feedback, refined the structure and content of the text messages, and
pilot tested the text-delivered intervention in a small scale RCT. The proposed research will
provide evidence of feasibility and efficacy of a text-based alcohol norms intervention for
reducing excessive drinking among first-year students.
Inclusion Criteria:
- 18-20 years of age
- enrolled as a first-year undergraduate student
- past month risky drinking
- possession of a mobile phone with text message capacity
- use text messaging at least weekly
Exclusion Criteria:
* currently engaged in alcohol treatment or in need of treatment (AUDIT score 20 or higher)
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Brown University Located in historic Providence, Rhode Island and founded in 1764, Brown University is...
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