Reported Changes in Students’ Alcohol Consumption Following a Brief Education of What Constitutes a Standard Drink

ABSTRACT Intercept surveys were conducted with 149 college students each asked to record their alcohol consumption for the previous two weeks using the Timeline Follow-back (TLFB method). Immediately following completion of the pretest TLFB alcohol survey the students were presented with brief educational information defining what constitutes one standard drink. Students then completed a new posttest TLFB survey and re-recorded the number of drinks they had in the previous two weeks. Among drinkers the majority, 55%, reported an increased number of drinks in response to the standard drink education information they received. Posteducation TLFB survey records were significantly higher than baseline presurvey records conducted within a five minute timeframe of one another. Validating the accuracy of baseline self-reported alcohol consumption is important to both prevention and intervention fields potentially enabling practitioners to more accurately: a) assess alcohol education and counseling needs; b) assess baseline alcohol use rates; and c) measure outcomes. ********** Quantity of alcohol consumption, typically obtained through self-report measures, is frequently utilized as an outcome measure in studies evaluating the efficacy of alcohol prevention, education, and intervention (Larimer & Cronce, 2007). In clinical settings, a client's reported number of drinks per drinking occasion is often an important component of alcohol assessment and screening. In the field of public health, alcohol prevention programs typically use preprogram alcohol intake as baseline data against which programmatic outcomes are measured. Baseline alcohol assessment and outcome measures by and large utilize: a) frequency (number of drinking days per/occasion), b) quantity (number of alcoholic drinks consumed per occasion), and c) alcohol related consequences (Larimer, et al. 2007; Blow et al., 2007; Babor et al., 1992). While there are methodological steps that minimize response bias (Babor, Stephens, & Marlatt, 1987), there has been debate about relying solely on measures of alcohol intake quantity as a primary determinant of alcohol related risks and prevention program outcomes in college or university settings (DeJong, 1998; White, Kraus, & Swartzwelder, 2006; Wechsler & Austin 1998; Wechsler, Dowdall, Davenport, & Castillo 1995). Inaccurate baseline reports of alcohol consumption may result in errors in outcome assessment; and may eclipse positive outcomes by producing false negative or false positive outcomes. Several studies have documented inaccuracies in direct assessment of the quantity of alcohol consumed per occasion among college students. College students' misperceptions of standard alcohol serving sizes have lead to underreporting inaccuracies in self-reported alcohol consumption (Presley & Pimental, 2006; Wansink & Van Ittersum, 2005; White, et al., 2005). Inaccurate reporting is often based on variations in the size and shape of alcohol containers as well as varying alcohol content of beverages (e.g. Wine, beer, liquor) and the lack of understanding about what constitutes a standard drink (Wansink & Van Ittersum, 2005; Lemmens, 1994; Turner, 1990). Given this, the validity of responses to alcohol surveys and the classification of drinking (e.g., moderate or heavy drinker) based on quantity of drinks reported are called into question. Studies conducted using objective observation measures of drinks that were 'free-poured' (i.e., pouring a drink without measuring an amount to be added) by bartenders and college students found they underestimated the amount of alcohol poured by nearly 20%. Participants tended to over-pour their drinks particularly in wider tumbler style glasses which resulted in underreported levels of consumption based on inaccurate estimates (Wansink & Van Ittersum, 2005; White, et al., 2005). Underage drinking among adolescents and college students is most likely to occur in nonregulated environments where alcohol is free-poured in nonstandard containers or serving sizes and with inconsistent strength across mixed drinks. …