Feedback-based alcohol interventions for mandated students: an effectiveness study of three modalities

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Public Health
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• College students often face alcohol-related consequences.
• Mandated interventions are common for students with alcohol violations.
• Personalized feedback shows promise for behavior change.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of personalized alcohol feedback delivered through individual, group, and computer-based formats.
• To compare the impact of different delivery methods on alcohol consumption and related harms.
• To assess the efficacy of interventions for a diverse range of college student drinking habits.

Main Methods:

• Randomized clinical trial with 173 college students referred for alcohol violations.
• Interventions included individually delivered, group-delivered, and computer-delivered personalized alcohol feedback.
• Outcomes measured included alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences.

Main Results:

• Individually delivered feedback significantly reduced alcohol use and related harms.
• Electronically delivered feedback significantly reduced alcohol-related harms.
• Group-delivered feedback did not yield statistically significant results.
• A main effect of time was observed for all outcome variables.

Conclusions:

• One-on-one personalized alcohol feedback is effective in reducing alcohol use and harms among mandated college students.
• Web-delivered personalized alcohol feedback can be a clinically useful tool for reducing alcohol-related harms in this population.
• Group-delivered personalized alcohol feedback may not be suitable for mandated students due to potential normalization of problematic behaviors.