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Brief motivational and parent interventions for college students: a randomized factorial study
Mark D Wood1, Anne M Fairlie, Anne C Fernandez
1Department of Psychology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881-0808, USA. mark_wood@uri.edu
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
|June 3, 2010
Summary
A brief motivational intervention (BMI) effectively reduced alcohol initiation and consequences in college students. Combining BMI with a parent-based intervention (PBI) offered additional benefits, suggesting a promising approach for universal alcohol prevention.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Psychology
- Substance Abuse Prevention
Background:
- College students are at high risk for initiating alcohol use and experiencing related consequences.
- Universal preventive interventions are needed to mitigate early alcohol use in this population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of a brief motivational intervention (BMI) and a parent-based intervention (PBI) as universal preventive strategies.
- To assess their impact on alcohol use initiation and heavy episodic drinking among incoming college students.
Main Methods:
- A randomized factorial design with 1,014 incoming college students.
- Latent growth modeling to analyze initiation and growth in heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related consequences over 22 months.
- Assessment at baseline, 10 months, and 22 months postbaseline.
Main Results:
- Brief motivational intervention (BMI) significantly reduced the initiation of heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related consequences.
- A significant interaction between BMI and parent-based intervention (PBI) showed combined intervention was more effective than individual interventions.
- Mediated effects were observed through changes in descriptive norms for both initiation and growth of heavy episodic drinking.
Conclusions:
- Brief motivational intervention (BMI) is a viable universal preventive strategy for incoming college students.
- While parent-based intervention (PBI) main effects were not significant, combined interventions showed enhanced outcomes.
- Further refinements to PBI may improve its effectiveness in future interventions.
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