How Mandated College Students Talk About Alcohol: Peer Communication Factors Associated with Drinking

The Intervening Role of Conversational Frequency and Valence in a School-Based Health Intervention

School-based health interventions are potentially an effective method to communicate health messages to adolescents. Unfortunately, effectiveness of such interventions is limited. Research in other contexts has shown that interpersonal communication can influence the effectiveness of health programs, but this has not been thoroughly tested for school-based health interventions. Therefore, our study investigated interpersonal communication (i.e., conversational valence and frequency) in a school-based intervention context. We used a three-wave randomized-controlled trial with 1056 students to study three aims. The first aim was to investigate the influence of a health intervention on conversational frequency and valence about drinking, snacking, and exercising. Our second aim was to investigate the influence of conversational frequency and valence on (predictors of) drinking, snacking, and exercising. Our third aim was to investigate whether the health intervention indirectly influenced the program outcomes through conversational frequency and valence. Findings showed that conversational frequency and valence were related to (predictors of) the three behaviors. Additionally, findings showed that the intervention did not influence conversational frequency and valence. Accordingly, findings showed no indirect influence of the intervention on program outcomes through conversational frequency and valence. Our findings show the potential of interpersonal communication for health behaviors and predictors; however, they also stress the importance of a health intervention to properly influence interpersonal communication. If health interventions can successfully influence interpersonal communication, intervention effectiveness can be improved.

Social Support and the Rehabilitation of Alcohol-Impaired Drivers: Drinking Motives as Moderators

Alcohol-impaired driving is a common and costly public health problem associated with alcohol misuse. This investigation aims to understand the role of social support and drinking motives in motivating alcohol-impaired drivers to reduce alcohol use. One hundred nineteen participants with a history of driving-while-intoxicated arrest were recruited from either a correctional treatment facility (n = 59) or the community (n = 60) and asked about their motivation to change alcohol use. Motivation to change was tested in relationships with two types of social support (i.e. Abstinence-Specific Social Support and General Social Support) and drinking motives (Coping, Enhancement, and Social Motives). The results showed: (1) only Abstinence-Specific Social Support was positively associated with motivation to change; (2) Coping and Social Motives had a negative association with motivation to change; (3) the impact of Abstinence-Specific Social Support on motivation to change was greater among those with a stronger Enhancement Motives. In other words, those who drink primarily for pleasure showed a greater increase in motivation to change when more Abstinence-Specific Social Support is available, compared to those with lower Enhancement Motives. The findings of this investigation contribute to our knowledge of the roles of communication in the rehabilitation of alcohol-impaired drivers.

Event-Specific Drinking and Protective Behavioral Strategy Use among College Students

BACKGROUND

Event-specific drinking occasions (e.g. holidays, special occasions, school breaks) have been associated with heavy drinking and negative alcohol-related consequences among college students. The current study extends prior research by examining understudied holidays and changes in protective behavioral strategy use during these event-specific drinking occasions.

METHOD

Participants were 537 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 who retrospectively reported drinking in the past two weeks. Several alcohol use variables (e.g., frequency, quantity, heavy episodic drinking frequency), negative alcohol-related consequences, and protective behavioral strategies were assessed for the previous 14 days. Ten event-specific drinking occasions were coded for the 14-day reporting period. A series of Analysis of Covariance models were conducted to examine differences on alcohol use variables, negative consequences, and protective behavioral strategies for weeks that included an event-specific drinking occasion relative to a no holiday reference timeframe.

RESULTS

Compared to the no holiday reference group, several event-specific drinking occasions (e.g., Labor Day, Martin Luther King Day) were associated with greater alcohol use, negative consequences, and protective behavioral strategy use. In contrast, other occasions were determined to be low-risk holidays (e.g., Veterans Day) when protective behavioral strategies were less frequently used. Some occasions (e.g., spring break) did not exhibit the expected clear pattern of risk.

CONCLUSIONS

College students' alcohol use, negative consequences, and protective behavioral strategy use vary across event-specific drinking occasions. Determining which event-specific drinking occasions are associated with risky alcohol use and the lowest use of harm reduction strategies is important for prevention and intervention programs.

Brief Alcohol Interventions for Youth in the Emergency Department: Exploring Proximal and Distal Outcomes

Brief interventions (BI) for alcohol use in the emergency department (ED) have been shown efficacious among adolescents and young adults; however, whether these interventions extend to other outcomes - proximal and distal - are less explored. This study examined outcomes of ED BIs in four completed trials showing reductions in alcohol use. Limited and inconsistent effects were found on proximal outcomes including parental monitoring, and distal outcomes including tobacco use. Identifying the mechanisms that underlie alcohol-focused BIs as well the intervention processes that may lead to generalized, positive effects on other variables is an important area of future research.

Delivering normative feedback to heavy drinking college students via text messaging: A pilot feasibility study

Correcting misperceptions in drinking norms is an established method of reducing college student drinking; however, delivery of accurate norms has typically been limited to a single dose within the confines of an alcohol intervention. The present study tests the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of using text messages to promote pro-moderation descriptive and injunctive norms. Following a baseline survey, 68 heavy drinking college students were randomly assigned to receive 28 daily messages with either accurate norms information (experimental group, n=34) or fun facts (control group, n=34). Participants rated each message on a 5-point scale of interest, and at the end of the 28days completed a follow-up assessment of normative perceptions and drinking behavior. The study protocol was feasible: 87% of invited students completed the screener, 64% of eligible students completed the consent form, and 93% agreed to participate. All messages were delivered and 98% were rated. Regarding acceptability, the mean interest rating for the alcohol-related text messages was 2.84 (SD=1.30), and no participants withdrew from the study. Although between-group differences were not observed at follow-up, participants in the experimental group showed significant reductions between baseline and follow-up on peak drinks, frequency of heavy episodic drinking (HED), negative consequences, and injunctive norms (ps<0.01). Results lay the groundwork for development of a text-based prevention strategy for use in college settings.