Clinical trial NCT01168726: Protective Behavioral Strategies and Brief Alcohol Interventions
Official title: Protective Behavioral Strategies and Brief Alcohol Interventions
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Alcohol Consumption
Lead sponsor: University of Missouri-Columbia
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
First posted: 2010-07-23
Enrollment: 365
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 24
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Excessive college student drinking represents an important public health problem for both the students themselves and those with whom they interact. The objective of this research is to better understand how to reduce such high-risk drinking by improving prevention and treatment programs, which will provide an overall public health benefit. Subjects in the study will be randomized to one of two brief intervention conditions or an education-only control condition. It is hypothesized that those in the intervention conditions will report greater reductions in alcohol use and alcohol-related problems than those in the control condition.

Detailed description: The primary objective of this project is to examine factors that are associated with the effectiveness of intervention programs designed to reduce high-risk drinking among heavy drinking college students. Previous research has found similar effect sizes for different types of multi-component, brief interventions among college students, but little research has assessed the degree to which specific components of such interventions are associated with intervention outcomes. One common component of motivational enhancing interventions among college students involves providing cognitive-behavioral self-control strategies designed to reduce one's use of alcohol, which we term "protective behavioral strategies" (PBS). However, there are two important factors that limit our understanding of the effects of PBS on client outcomes. First, the use of these strategies in motivational enhancing programs has generally not been assessed in a systematic manner, due in part to the fact that until recently a standardized measure of such strategies did not exist. Second, researchers have yet to conduct studies that dismantle the specific effects associated with the PBS component on client outcomes. That is, studies have not tested interventions with and without assessment and feedback regarding a client's use of PBS. Participants in this project will be "at-risk" college student drinkers who will be assigned to one of three conditions: a brief intervention that includes a focus on PBS, a brief intervention that does not include this focus, and an education-only control condition. Participant will complete self-report measures of alcohol-related variables at baseline, 30-day, and 6-month follow-ups. Mixed-model analyses will be used to determine the effectiveness of the intervention programs, and structural equation modeling will be used to determine if increases in PBS result in reductions in alcohol use/alcohol-related problems.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* At least one binge drinking episode in the preceding month

Exclusion Criteria:

* At-risk for alcohol dependence or major depressive disorder

Primary outcomes:
measure: Drinks Per Week
timeFrame: 6 Months
measure: Rutgers Alcohol Problems Index (RAPI)
timeFrame: 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Drinking Norms Rating Form
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale.
timeFrame: 6 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Columbia
country: United States
facility: University of Missouri
state: Missouri
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Missouri-Columbia
name: Matthew P Martens, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: