Adapting a Secondary Prevention Program for Nonstudent Emerging Adult Drinkers

Old Dominion University164 enrolled

Overview

Emerging adulthood is a period of heightened vulnerability for problematic alcohol use. Considerable research has been devoted to reducing alcohol risks in college student populations, though far less effort has focused on their noncollege-attending peers. Research targeting nonstudent emerging adults is critical as this group is at risk for experiencing alcohol-related harms. Consequently, the main objective of the present study was to examine the preliminary efficacy of a brief personalized feedback intervention (PFI) tailored for nonstudent at-risk drinkers.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

164

Conditions

Alcohol Drinking

Interventions

Personalized Feedback InterventionBEHAVIORAL

The current intervention included personalized feedback regarding their alcohol consumption, alcohol-related consequences, gender-specific normative drinking comparisons, personal risk factors (e.g., dependence symptoms, family history of alcoholism), and alcohol expectancies. The intervention also included didactic material related to alcohol (e.g., effects at different BAC levels, tolerance) and drinking moderation strategies. The feedback was presented graphically in a feedback report with the individual's information.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 25 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Study eligibility included being 18 to 25 years old, having no prior or current college attendance (e.g., technical/vocational programs, associate's degree programs, or four year college programs), and not being currently enrolled in high school. High school completion was not a required eligibility criteria. They also had to report engaging in a minimum of two heavy drinking episodes (i.e., 4/5+ standard drinks for women/men on one occasion) in the past month Exclusion Criteria: * Exclusion criteria included consumption above 40 drinks weekly and/or a history of substance use treatment

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Alcohol use quantity

Alcohol consumption was assessed using the Daily Drinking Questionnaire (DDQ; Collins et al., 1985). Participants reported the number of standard drinks (e.g., 12-ounce beer, 5-ounce wine, or 1.5 ounce liquor) consumed and duration each day during a typical week in the past 3 months. Indices of weekly drinking derived from the DDQ were: total quantity, frequency of drinking days, number of heavy drinking days (days where 4/5+ drinks for women/men were consumed), proportion of heavy drinking days out of total drinking days, maximum number of drinks on the heaviest drinking day, and typical blood alcohol concentration (BAC; see Matthews \& Miller, 1979).

Time frame: 9 months

Alcohol-related harms

Alcohol-related problems were measured by the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ; Kahler et al., 2005). The B-YAACQ is a 24-item, yes-no format questionnaire assessing negative drinking-related consequences experienced during the past month. Items were summed to create an overall score (ranging from 0 to 24), with higher scores indicating greater severity.

Time frame: 9 months

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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