A randomized controlled trial of a web-based, personalized normative feedback alcohol intervention for young-adult veterans.

Abstract

Objective Young adult American veterans are at-risk for problematic alcohol use. However, they are unlikely to seek care and may drop out from lengthy multicomponent treatments when they do get care. This randomized controlled trial tested a very brief alcohol intervention delivered over the Internet to reach the population of young adult veterans to help reduce their drinking. Method Veterans (N=784) were recruited from Facebook and randomized to either a control condition or a personalized normative feedback (PNF) intervention seeking to correct drinking perceptions of gender-specific veteran peers. Results At immediate post-intervention, PNF participants reported greater reductions in their perceptions of peer drinking and in intentions to drink over the next month compared to control participants. At one-month follow-up, PNF participants reduced their drinking behavior and consequences to a significantly greater extent than controls. Specifically, PNF participants drank 3.4 fewer drinks per week, consumed 0.4 fewer drinks per occasion, binge drank on 1.0 fewer days, and experienced about 1.0 fewer consequences than control participants in the month after the intervention. Intervention effects for drinks per occasion were most pronounced among more problematic drinkers. Changes in perceived norms from baseline to one-month follow-up mediated intervention efficacy. Conclusions Though effects were assessed after only one-month, findings have potential to inform broader, population-level programs designed for young veterans to prevent escalation of drinking and development of long-term alcohol problems. Given the simplicity of the PNF approach and ease of administration, this intervention has the potential for a substantial impact on public health.

Insomnia moderates the association between alcohol use and consequences among young adult veterans

“…Participants were young adults aged 18 to 34 years who were recruited using targeted Facebook ads as part of a larger randomized controlled trial (Pedersen, Parast, Marshall, Schell, & Neighbors, 2017). Eligibility criteria included (a) being a U.S. veteran currently separated from active duty, (b) being between ages 18 to 34 years, and (c) scoring 3/4+ (for women/men) on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Saunders, Aasland, Babor, de la Fuente, & Grant, 1993).…”

“…A total of 622 participants (79% follow-up rate) completed the one-month follow-up survey online and were included in analyses for this study. Details regarding recruitment procedures, sample characteristics, and intervention outcomes have been published elsewhere (Pedersen, Naranjo, & Marshall, 2017; Pedersen, Parast, et al, 2017). All procedures were approved by the institutional review board.…”

“…Possible total scores ranged from 0 to 24. This measure has been used widely in studies of young adult drinking behavior, in college student (Merrill, Read, & Barnett, 2013), non-student (Lau-Barraco, Braitman, Stamates, & Linden-Carmichael, 2016), and military samples (Miller, Brett, et al, 2016; Pedersen, Parast, et al, 2017). Internal consistency in this sample was high (α = .94).…”

“…At baseline, there were no significant differences between groups in age, gender, drinks per week, or alcohol-related consequences. Because participants in the intervention condition reported significantly greater decreases in alcohol use outcomes than those in the control condition (Pedersen, Parast, et al, 2017), intervention condition was included as a covariate in all analyses. Analyses also controlled for gender, age, combat severity, PTSD, and depression, all of which have been associated with alcohol use in military and veteran samples (Bray, 2013; Fuehrlein et al, 2014; Scott et al, 2013; Williams et al, 2015).…”

Reaching Those At Risk for Psychiatric Disorders and Suicidal Ideation: Facebook Advertisements to Recruit Military Veterans (Preprint)

“…Facebook ads have been used effectively in populations including college students and young adults [16,17] and military veterans (particularly those with risky drinking) [18][19][20][21]. Prior research has also suggested ad campaigns can achieve both "broad reach and targeted recruitment," and found ad costs to be manageable [19].…”