A Brief Orientation Week Ecological Momentary Intervention to Reduce University Student Alcohol Consumption

Abstract

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,

An Ecological Momentary Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Consumption in Young Adults Delivered During Drinking Events: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

“…This study is novel in that, unlike previous work [12,15,16,20], it is designed to intervene repeatedly during single occasion drinking events. Further, it extends previous research in this area [12,38], which has applied limited tailoring of message content for SMS-based brief interventions.…”

“…Tailored advice was then sent to participants in response; they reported a small reduction in binge drinking within the sample of young adults. Riordan et al [12] collected alcohol consumption data and delivered brief advice by SMS message to university students in New Zealand. In that study, participants were sent 4 total EMA during orientation week (the week prior to the university semester starting, which usually involves multiple parties and other social events) and once per week during the semester.…”

“…Participants in the EMA-EMI condition additionally received SMS with health consequence warnings at 7:30 PM on each night of orientation week. They found a reduction in alcohol consumption during orientation week for women but not for men [12]. …”

Mobile Phone-Based Ecological Momentary Intervention to Reduce Young Adults� Alcohol Use in the Event: A Three-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

“…Participants in the intervention condition additionally received an SMS with health consequence warnings on each night of orientation week. They found a reduction in alcohol consumption in the intervention group during orientation week for females, but not for males [10].…”

“…Riordan et al focused on tertiary students during orientation week (the week before classes start for first-year students, usually involving many social events) in their trial of an SMS-delivered ecological momentary intervention (EMI) [10]. They sent intervention and control groups four EMAs by SMS during orientation week, and once per week during semester to assess alcohol consumption in the day prior to assessment.…”