Examining How Motivational Interviewing May Foster College Student Development

Professional counselors practicing in higher education settings aspire to meet the developmental needs of college students in addition to addressing their mental health and substance use concerns. Motivational interviewing (Ml) is an evidence-based counseling approach that focuses on enhancing motivation and commitment to change. This article describes how professional counselors working in higher education settings might apply Ml to foster college student development while helping students make positive behavior changes. Keywords: motivational interviewing, college student development; college counseling ********** Motivational interviewing (MI) is a person-centered, directive counseling approach that focuses on resolving client ambivalence and enhancing motivation for change (W. R. Miller & Rollnick, 2002). MI has expanded in its use and applications (Arkowitz & Miller, 2008) since it was developed by William Miller (1983) in the field of addiction counseling. MI was first described in detail in Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People to Change Addictive Behavior, authored by William Miller and Stephen Rollnick (1991). In 2002, W. R. Miller and Rollnick published the second edition of Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People for Change that broadened the application of MI from the treatment of addictions to change in general. MI has been the subject of many controlled clinical trials, especially in the treatment of substance use disorders, and has been found to be efficacious in assisting people to change a number of problem behaviors (e.g., gambling, diet and exercise; Lundahl, Kunz, Brownell, Tollefson, & Burke, 2010). Research demonstrating the positive effects of MI has led to adaptations of MI being included in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP; www.nrepp.samhsa.gov). Because MI is a style of counseling or a method of communication, it has been found to have broad applications. Some texts have applied MI to work in mental health (Arkowitz, Westra, Miller, & Rollnick, 2008), health care (Rollnick, Miller, & Butler, 2008), and probation and corrections (Walters, Clark, Gingerich, & Meitzer, 2007). MI has been used with college student populations, especially in the area of alcohol abuse (e.g., Branscum & Sharma, 2010; LaChance, Ewing, Bryan, & Hutchison, 2009; Walters, Vader, Harris, Field, & Jouriles, 2009). The Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) was developed as a college-based program that uses MI to provide assessment feedback about students' alcohol use behaviors (Dimeff, Baer, Kivlahan, & Marlatt, 1999). BASICS has been the subject of several clinical trials (e.g., Baer, Kivlahan, Blume, McKnight, & Marlatt, 2001; Borsari & Carey, 2000) and is included in SAMHSA's NREPP. In addition to BASICS being considered an evidence-based program, a meta-analysis (Carey, Scott-Sheldon, Carey, & DeMartini, 2007) examined the efficacy of college student drinking interventions and found that interventions that included MI components produced greater effects in reducing alcohol-related problems compared with interventions that did not use MI components (B = 0.21, p Few MI investigations in college settings have expanded beyond the issue of alcohol use. For example, Daugherty (2008) examined MI and academic success; Mandel-Parrino (2009) and Mulligan (2008) studied MI and smoking cessation. However, within the context of college alcohol abuse, Scholl and Schmitt (2009) discussed MI's congruence with two theories of development: self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) and the seven-vector model (Chickering & Reisser, 1993). Scholl and Schmitt recommended integrating an appropriate developmental model when using MI to address alcohol abuse in college students. …