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Riordan (Jul 2015) 2 ABSTRACT. Objective: Orientation Week is a series of events at the beginning of the university year that introduces incoming students to university life. It is also the period of the academic year when students consume more alcohol than at any other time. Recently, we demonstrated that alcohol consumption during Orientation Week was related to alcohol consumption during the academic year. The aim of the present study was to determine whether a brief ecological momentary intervention (EMI) implemented during Orientation Week could reduce alcohol consumption during Orientation Week and throughout the academic year. Method: Participants were 130 freshman-year university students (72 women; 58 men) randomly assigned to either an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) condition or an EMA-EMI condition. In both conditions, participants reported pre-university, Orientation Week, and academic year weekend alcohol consumption. Those in the EMA-EMI condition also received EMI text messages promoting moderation every night during Orientation Week. Results: Although the EMI did not affect men's drinking, women in the EMA-EMI condition, compared with women in the EMA condition, consumed significantly fewer drinks during Orientation Week, M = 17.1, SD = 13.3 vs. M = 26.4, SD = 22.5, respectively, t(70) =-1.927, p < .05, Cohen's d = 0.473, and reported consuming fewer weekend drinks during the academic semester,

Objective: To examine associations between Fear of Missing Out (FoMO), alcohol use, and negative alcohol-related consequences among college students. Participants: Participants were two samples of undergraduate students ages 18-25 (Study 1 n=182; Study 2 n=250). Methods: In both studies, participants completed the Fear of Missing Out Scale (FoMOs) and the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ) in which they reported the number of negative alcohol-related consequences experienced over the past three months. Alcohol was measured retrospectively in Study 1, and prospectively in Study 2 using a 13-day Internet daily diary. Results: Across both studies, higher FoMOs was associated with experiencing more negative alcohol-related consequences but not overall higher alcohol use. In Study 2, higher FoMOs was also associated with consuming a higher quantity of alcoholic drinks per session. Conclusion: To reduce alcohol-related harm within the college student population, it may be important to address social factors such as FoMO that may drive people towards riskier behavior surrounding alcohol use.

This project investigated how individual differences in the big-five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) predicted plant-food consumption in young adults. A total of 1073 participants from two samples of young adults aged 17–25 reported their daily servings of fruits, vegetables, and two unhealthy foods for comparison purposes using an Internet daily diary for 21 or 13 days (micro-longitudinal, correlational design). Participants also completed the Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) measure of personality, and demographic covariates including gender, age, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI). Analyses used hierarchical regression to predict average daily fruit and vegetable consumption as separate dependent variables from the demographic covariates (step 1) and the five personality traits (step 2). Results showed that young adults higher in openness and extraversion, and to some extent conscientiousness, ate more fruits and vegetables than their less open, less extraverted, and less conscientious peers. Neuroticism and agreeableness were unrelated to fruit and vegetable consumption. These associations were unique to eating fruit and vegetables and mostly did not extend to unhealthy foods tested. Young adult women also ate more fruit and vegetables than young adult men. Results suggest that traits associated with greater intellect, curiosity, and social engagement (openness and extraversion), and to a lesser extent, discipline (conscientiousness) are associated with greater plant-food consumption in this population. Findings reinforce the importance of personality in establishing healthy dietary habits in young adulthood that could translate into better health outcomes later in life.

ObjectiveThe aim of Orientation Week is to help new students acclimatize to university life. However, Orientation Week is characterized by heavy alcohol use and during this time students may develop drinking patterns that persist into the academic year. The aim of the current study was to refine a brief Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) and test its effectiveness in reducing students’ alcohol use during both Orientation Week and throughout the academic year.MethodWe conducted two focus groups with students who had received a pilot intervention. We then updated and trialled the intervention with students from two residential colleges (College 1 n = 117 and College 2 n = 269) who were assigned to either an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) condition or an EMA-EMI condition. Students in both conditions reported their pre-university drinking and their drinking during Orientation Week and the academic year via text message. In addition to the EMA messages, during Orientation Week, participants in the EMA-EMI condition received messages highlighting the potential social consequences of heavy alcohol use.ResultsIn College 1 those in the EMA-EMI condition consumed fewer drinks, relative to those in the EMA condition, across both Orientation Week (9.7 vs. 15.5; t(98) = 2.138, p = .018) and the academic year. (4.3 vs. 6.8; t(98) = 1.788, p = .039). There were, however, no significant differences between conditions in College 2.ConclusionThe current findings suggest that EMIs may be successful under certain circumstances and may provide a simple, cost-effective means of intervening.