Developing Text Messages to Reduce Community College Student Alcohol Use

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Digital Health Interventions

Background:

• Hazardous drinking is prevalent among community college students.
• Text message-based interventions show promise for alcohol harm reduction.
• Tailoring intervention content may improve engagement and effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate community college students' perceptions of the usefulness of alcohol protective behavioral strategy text messages (TM-PBS).
• To compare the perceived usefulness of TM-PBS selected by investigators, participants, or randomly.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 48 community college students with hazardous drinking.
• Participants received TM-PBS selected by investigators, themselves, or randomly.
• Perceived usefulness was assessed on a 1-5 scale immediately after message receipt.

Main Results:

• Response rates for TM-PBS were high (72.9%-87.5%) across all selection groups.
• Investigator-selected messages were rated as less useful than participant-selected or randomly selected messages.
• No significant differences in response rates were observed between selection categories.

Conclusions:

• Alcohol protective behavioral strategy text messages (TM-PBS) selected by students were perceived as more useful than those selected by investigators.
• Tailoring TM-PBS based on participant preference may optimize their perceived usefulness in alcohol interventions.
• Findings support personalized approaches in digital health interventions for hazardous drinking.