The Glass Is Half Full: Evidence for Efficacy of Alcohol-Wise at One University But Not the Other

Abstract

This research extends the growing literature about online alcohol prevention programs for first-year college students. Two independent randomized control studies, conducted at separate universities, evaluated the short-term effectiveness of Alcohol-Wise, an online alcohol prevention program not previously studied. It was hypothesized the prevention program would increase alcohol knowledge and reduce alcohol consumption, including high-risk alcohol-related behaviors, among first-year college students. At both universities, the intervention significantly increased alcohol-related knowledge. At one university, the prevention program also significantly reduced alcohol consumption and high-risk drinking behaviors, such as playing drinking games, heavy drinking, and extreme ritualistic alcohol consumption. Implications for the use of online alcohol prevention programs and student affairs are discussed.

Do brief motivational interventions reduce drinking game frequency in mandated students? An analysis of data from two randomized controlled trials.

“…Likewise, specific tests of interaction effects for gender did not reach the threshold for statistical significance. These findings stand in contrast to previous research reporting a reduction in DG participation following an in-person BMI (Wood et al, 2010) and computerized interventions (Croom et al, 2009, 2015). …”

“…Despite this, intervention approaches designed to reduce DG participation are limited. (Croom et al, 2009, 2015; Wood et al, 2010). Meta-analytic reviews have indicated that Brief Motivational Intervention (BMIs) are an empirically supported approach for reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems among mandated (Carey, Scott-Sheldon, Garey, Elliott, & Carey, 2016) and volunteer (Carey, Scott-Sheldon, Carey, & DeMartini, 2007) college students, and may be a promising approach to reduce DG participation.…”

Internet-Delivered Health Interventions That Work: Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses and Evaluation of Website Availability

“…The health benefit observed in the trials was generally a reduction in alcohol consumption, although some trials showed a reduction in the consequences of heavy drinking such as impairment in control and fewer embarrassing actions. The length of the programs varied—some being rather brief screening tools and others encompassing 6 months of structured activities [77-91]. The freely available websites for alcohol emanated from various European countries.…”

Analysis of an Alcohol Use Prevention Program for Undergraduate Students

“…In this model, when individuals gain awareness of their risk behaviors and their effect on health, they are more apt to make changes to decrease their risk. Although colleges and universities regularly use web‐based substance use prevention programs designed to increase awareness of risk and change behavior, there is little empirical support for the effectiveness of these interventions (Croom et al, ).…”

“…Despite this lack of empirical support, web‐based prevention programs remain common because they are cost‐effective and easier to implement than face‐to‐face interventions. They usually entail tests of alcohol‐related knowledge, as well as assessments of alcohol‐related attitudes and positive and negative alcohol expectancies (Croom et al, ; Paschall, Bersamin, Fearnow‐Kenney, Wyrick, & Currey, ).…”