Effectiveness of a Peer-led Program to Prevent Alcohol Consumption.
Condition: Alcohol Drinking
MeSH terms: Alcohol Drinking
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The goal of this Randomized clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-led
      intervention to prevent alcohol consumption in university students. The main questions it
      aims to answer are:

        -  Does a peer-led brief motivational intervention reduce the quantity and frequency of
           alcohol consumption among university students?

        -  Does a peer-led brief motivational intervention reduce the negative consequences
           experienced by university students due to alcohol consumption?

      Participants will:

        -  Complete a baseline online questionnaire (before the intervention) and one month after
           receiving the intervention.

        -  Participants in the intervention group will receive a brief motivational intervention.

      Researchers will compare intervention and control group to see if there are statistically
      significant differences in relation to alcohol consumption.
    

Detailed description: 
      STUDY OBJECTIVES

      Primary Objectives:

        1. To evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-led program to prevent alcohol consumption in
           university students.

        2. To compare the effectiveness of said program with a control group that will obtain the
           usual information and messages that students receive in their daily environments and at
           the University.

      Secondary objectives:

        1. Evaluate the acquisition by the peer counsellors of the micro-skills of motivational
           interviewing (MI).

        2. Evaluate the adherence of peer counsellors to the content of the program to prevent
           excessive alcohol consumption.

        3. To explore the experience of peer counsellors when carrying out the alcohol consumption
           prevention intervention with their peers.

      Program objectives:

        1. Decrease the amount of alcohol consumed in a normal week and weekend in students
           receiving the intervention compared to those in the control group.

        2. Reduce episodes of binge drinking in university students who receive the intervention
           program.

        3. Reduce estimated peak blood alcohol concentration (eBAC) in students receiving the
           intervention program.

        4. Reduce the number of negative consequences experienced by the students derived from
           alcohol consumption.

      Hypothesis:

        1. An educational program, with an emphasis on improving motivation and empowerment, and
           led by trained peer counsellors, will be more effective in preventing the harmful use of
           alcohol in university students than the usual health promotion that this population
           receives.

        2. Students in the intervention group will decrease the amount of alcohol consumed in a
           normal week and weekend compared to those in the control group, and this difference
           between the two groups will be clinically relevant.

        3. The students who receive the intervention will experience fewer episodes of binge
           drinking compared to the university students in the control group.

        4. Students in the intervention group will reduce the estimated peak blood alcohol
           concentration compared to those in the control group.

        5. Students in the intervention group will experience fewer negative consequences from
           alcohol use compared to those in the control group.

        6. Students receiving the intervention will be more motivated to make positive changes in
           their alcohol risk behaviour compared to the control group.

      STUDY METHODOLOGY

      Sample and setting:

      In the Randomized Clinical Trial, 306 university students will be randomized to two treatment
      groups: intervention (IG) and control (CG). The research will be carried out from September
      2022 to May 2023 at the University of Navarra (Pamplona). The study population will be made
      up of first-year university students of the Degree in Nursing, Sciences, Pharmacy and
      Nutrition, Communication, Law, Economics and Business, Education and Psychology, and
      Philosophy of a university in the north of Spain, enrolled in the academic year 2022/ 2023.

      Study procedure:

      The study participants will complete the "BASICS_HealthyClassroom Questionnaire" which is
      carried out through the "Survey Monkey" platform. This is self-completed in a time of 15
      minutes, consists of a total of 22 questions.

      Student volunteers who complete the baseline survey and who meet the inclusion criteria will
      be randomized to one of the two treatment conditions (IG or CG) and will subsequently be
      contacted by mail to inform them of their selection in the project. Students assigned to the
      intervention group will receive the peer-led preventive program. The preventive program
      consists of a single face-to-face session, lasting about 45-50 minutes. In the first place,
      the participant will receive, from the Research Staff in Training, the individualized
      feedback sheet prepared from the baseline information obtained through the
      "BASICS_HealthyClassroom Questionnaire". Later, they will have a motivational interview with
      the peer counselor (approximately 45 minutes). The content of the intervention will be
      adapted to the interests and level of motivation of each participant.

      The data will be collected in three times. Before the intervention (Time 0; T0), and one
      month after the intervention (T1).

      The peer counselors who carry out the intervention will be fourth-year students from the
      Faculty of Nursing of the University, who will have previously been trained to carry out the
      intervention program. The training is being carried out in the first quarter of the 2022-2023
      academic year, as part of the optional subject "Motivational Interviewing and Process of
      Change" of the Faculty of Nursing of the University of Navarra, offered to fourth-year
      students. . The subject consists of, on the one hand, theoretical classes given by an expert
      on the subject (10h) and, on the other hand, MI practice workshops and feedback (13h).

      The effectiveness of the intervention will be evaluated through the change in the pattern of
      alcohol consumption, and the negative consequences experienced by each participant.

      Recruitment will take place during the month of November (2022) through the transmission of
      direct information about the project in the first-year undergraduate classes at the faculties
      involved, and through dissemination on social networks and the website of the University.

      The motivational interventions will take place from January to March, when the peer
      counselors have finished the training.
    

Intervention name(s): BASICS_HealthyClassroom
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): First, they will complete a 22-item online questionnaire, collecting all the variables of the research. After completing it, the students in the intervention group will receive personalized feedback by mail that visually summarizes the content of the questionnaire. Students will receive a motivational intervention with the aim of increasing the university's awareness of their alcohol consumption. In the intervention session of the program, the following aspects may be addressed, whenever the participant wishes: 1) Pattern of alcohol consumption of the student; 2) Social norm of alcohol consumption; 3) Negative consequences of alcohol; 4) Costs of alcohol consumption; 5) The change; 6) Specific education on alcohol; and 7) Advice and recommendations.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Peer; Alcohol drinking; Health promotion; Undergraduate; Brief Motivational Intervention