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Providing personalized assessment feedback for problem drinking on the Internet: a pilot project.
J A Cunningham1, K Humphreys, A Koski-Jännes
1Addiction Research Foundation Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, & University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. John_Cunningham@camh.net
Journal of Studies on Alcohol
|February 24, 2001
Summary
An online program offering personalized drinking feedback shows promise for internet-based interventions. Further research is needed to determine if this feedback changes user drinking behavior.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Digital Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Internet-based interventions are emerging as a novel approach for health behavior change.
- Assessing and providing feedback on drinking habits can be a first step towards reducing alcohol consumption.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and pilot an Internet program providing personalized, normative feedback on drinking habits.
- To gauge user reception and identify potential improvements for online alcohol intervention tools.
Main Methods:
- An Internet program, "Try Our Free Drinking Evaluation," was created to assess drinking habits.
- A voluntary survey collected user feedback on the program's effectiveness and format.
Main Results:
- The program received approximately 500 monthly visits, indicating an audience for such interventions.
- Feedback was generally positive, though the weekly summary format was less effective for irregular or highly variable drinkers.
Conclusions:
- Pilot results suggest a viable audience for Internet-based alcohol interventions.
- Future research should focus on evaluating the impact of personalized online feedback on actual drinking behavior change.