Testing a brief motivational-interviewing educational commitment module for at-risk college drinkers: A randomized...

Area of Science:

• Addiction research
• Public health interventions
• Psychology

Background:

• College students are at high risk for alcohol-related harm.
• Standard interventions like Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) are effective but may be enhanced.
• Novel educational commitment (EC) modules are being explored to complement existing protocols.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of an educational commitment (EC) module as an adjunct to the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) protocol.
• To assess the drink and harm reduction effects of the combined BASICS+EC intervention.
• To compare the effects of BASICS+EC, BASICS alone, and an information-only condition on alcohol consumption and related outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A randomized trial involving 180 university students was conducted.
• Participants were assigned to one of three conditions: Information, BASICS, or BASICS+EC.
• Data on alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, decision-making, student role investment, and self-control were collected at baseline, 2-month, and 9-month follow-ups.

Main Results:

• Significant condition effects were observed for drink quantity at 2 and 9 months, but not for alcohol problems.
• The BASICS+EC condition showed slightly larger decreases in consumption at 2 months compared to BASICS, but this difference diminished by 9 months.
• Secondary analyses revealed significant condition effects for high-risk decision-making at 2 months and conscientiousness at 9 months.

Conclusions:

• In-person feedback modalities, like BASICS, are effective indicated prevention strategies for at-risk college drinkers.
• The addition of a brief EC module to BASICS did not yield significant long-term improvements in drink and harm reduction.
• Future research should explore more intensive EC modalities and ongoing academic feedback to enhance intervention efficacy.