Parent Feedback Intervention Targeting Student Transitions and Alcohol Related Trajectories (+) Efficacy Study
Condition: Alcohol Drinking; Alcohol Problem Drinking; Parenting
MeSH terms: Alcohol-Related Disorders; Alcoholism; Alcohol Drinking
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      FITSTART (Feedback Intervention Targeting Student Transitions and Risk Trajectories) is a
      parent-based social norms intervention that has been shown to reduce risky drinking in
      incoming first year students.This program uses normative feedback to correct parents
      overestimation of other parents negative alcohol-related parenting practices (e.g., number of
      drinks parents would permit their college student to consume). Theory and research suggests
      that correcting those common misperceptions can motivate parents to adjust their own
      behaviors (e.g., reducing the number of drinks they would permit), which, in turn, can impact
      college student drinking. Despite FITSTARTs success, the design of the program limits
      participation to only students who have parents who can attend on-campus orientation sessions
      during the summer months before the start of the Fall semester. To address this limitation
      and extend the previous work, the proposed randomized clinical trial (RCT) will evaluate the
      efficacy of an online adaptation of the FITSTART(+) PBI program. To examine the efficacy of
      the newly developed FITSTART+ PBI web app, the proposed RCT will use a longitudinal design to
      examine if students self-report drinking and related negative consequences during their first
      semester in college significantly differed between FITSTART+ PBI (intervention app) and a
      control version of the app. Self-reported drinking and consequences are expected to be lower
      amongst students with parents randomized to FITSTART+ PBI relative to those with parents
      randomized to the control app.
    

Detailed description: 
      Heavy episodic drinking (HED) rates remains at unacceptably high levels on college campuses.
      Researchers on parent-based interventions (PBIs) has revealed promising results. but studies
      have generally failed to reduce HED in college students. FITSTART was developed to address
      two limitations of traditional PBIs that may contribute to the lack of the aforementioned
      effects: (I) they are purely informational and (II) they typically lack a motivational
      component to capture parents' attention and increase motivation to proactively engage their
      students. Pilot work has revealed that parents display predictable normative misperceptions
      (e.g., overestimate how approving other parents are of drinking and underestimate how often
      other parents engage with their students about drinking). As predicted by social norms
      theory, these false beliefs are associated with parents displaying more approving attitudes
      themselves and communicating less frequently. Correcting these norms should motivate parents
      to proactively engage their child in risk-reducing directions. FITSTART combined a social
      norms feedback component with informational material ("tips") characteristic of a traditional
      PBI in an in-person interactive format and successfully reduced HED. While the effects on
      weekly drinking, HED, and non-drinker alcohol use initiation were robust 1-month into college
      (3-months post intervention). FITSTART's usefulness as a universal approach is limited
      because it was delivered to parent groups on-campus during pre-college orientation sessions
      and many colleges do not hold summer orientations and/or lack the resources to administer
      FITSTART. To address this limitation, a web-based platform (or app) was developed using a new
      cutting-edge modality that draws from the computer science literature on virtual co-presence
      to create an online environment that mimics the effects of a live group social norms session.

      The current pilot study seeks to evaluate the efficacy of the FITSTART+ PBI in a randomized
      control trial (RCT) by evaluating changes in incoming first-year students' alcohol use and
      related negative consequences during the transition into college. The sample will consist of
      traditional first year students (17-20 years of age) from Loyola Marymount University who
      completed consent and the baseline survey, and whose parents downloaded and registered for
      the FITSTART+ intervention or control app. Parents will be invited to download the
      intervention/control app two weeks prior to their student's arrival on campus in the fall
      (beginning of August). To examine the short- and long-term effects of the intervention,
      students will complete a baseline survey at the end of July (pre- matriculation) and two
      follow-up surveys, approximately 1 month (October) and 6 months (April) after the students
      arrive on campus in the spring.
    

Intervention name(s): FITSTART+ PBI; General Parenting Advice
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Personalized normative feedback on other parents behaviors + alcohol-specific parenting advice + general parenting advice; General parenting advice
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Parent Intervention; Alcohol Intervention; College Student Drinking