text message intervention for alcohol use and sexual violence in college students

Conditions: Alcohol Use, Unspecified; Sexual Violence; Sexual Assault

Summary: this study is designed to pilot a text message (tm) delivered behavior change intervention to decrease binge drinking and to increase use of sexual violence (sv) harm reduction strategies among college students.

this is a prospective, open-label, feasibility trial of a text message-delivered intervention designed to increase use of sexual violence harm reduction strategies and decrease alcohol use among college students. in this research study, participants will: * be asked to complete three surveys, one survey at the start of the study, one at the end of 3 month intervention period, and one at 6 months after enrollment * receive one of two sets of text messages for a 3 month intervention period and be asked to respond to some of those text messages * control condition text messages: the control condition will be a version of the tm-delivered alcohol use reduction intervention developed and implemented by dr. brian suffoletto while at the university of pittsburgh. this intervention has been tested in young adults (age 18-25) recruited from emergency department and college settings, and will be used to provide an attention control group for efficacy testing. prior to typical drinking occasions, individuals planning a drinking event are prompted to consider committing to a drinking limit goal, i.e.: "would you be willing to set a goal to drink less than x drinks when drinking?". based on willingness to commit to the goal, a feedback message is provided. during typical drinking periods, individuals receive a goal reminder. each week, the program provides goal success/failure feedback or drinking quantity feedback. for example, those occasions where an individual committed to a drinking limit goal triggers either messages to reinforce goal successes or reframe goal failures. when an individual did not commit to a drink limit goal, they are provided feedback based on alcohol quantity (e.g. abstinence feedback, high risk drinking feedback). * intervention condition text messages: the multi-target sexual violence harm reduction and alcohol use intervention will use a similar model to the alcohol use reduction intervention previous developed and implemented at the university of pittsburgh.13-15 students will be: 1) queried via tm prior to typical drinking days regarding both alcohol use and sv harm reduction goal setting; 2) provided with goal reminders during drinking period; and 3) assessed for goal attainment and given feedback following drinking episodes.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: 1. age 18-24 years, 2. current college or university student, 3. owns a mobile phone with internet access and unlimited text message plan, 4. reports binge drinking in the past 30 days \[\>3 drinks for women, \>4 drinks men in one sitting\] 5. able to complete participation in english. 6. to evaluate messages tailored to prior sv victimization, approximately 50% of the sample will also be purposively recruited for a baseline history of sv. exclusion criteria: 1. under 18 years old, over 24 years old 2. not currently enrolled in college 3. does not own a mobile phone with internet access and unlimited data plan 4. does not report binge drinking in the past 30 day 5. unable to complete study participation in english