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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Nov;75(6):982-92.
doi: 10.15288/jsad.2014.75.982.

Randomized controlled trial of web-based decisional balance feedback and personalized normative feedback for college drinkers

Susan E Collins  1 , Megan Kirouac  1 , Melissa A Lewis  2 , Katie Witkiewitz  3 , Kate B Carey  4
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Randomized controlled trial of web-based decisional balance feedback and personalized normative feedback for college drinkers

Susan E Collins et al. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: Web-based personalized feedback interventions, particularly personalized normative feedback (PNF), are efficacious in improving college drinking outcomes; however, no personalized feedback interventions to date have provided college drinkers with feedback about their own decisional balance. This study tested the relative efficacy of a novel decisional balance feedback (DBF) intervention, PNF, and an assessment-only control condition.

Method: Participants (N = 724; 56% female) were undergraduate students at a 4-year university in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and were randomized to receive one-time exposure to web-based DBF, PNF, or assessment only. Web-based assessment occurred at baseline and at 1-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups and included measures of motivation to change, drinking quantity norms, drinking frequency/quantity, and alcohol-related problems.

Results: At the 1-month follow-up, DBF and PNF participants reported reductions in alcohol-related problems; however, only PNF participants reduced their drinking frequency and quantity. At the 6-month follow-up, only DBF participants showed significant reductions in drinking quantity and alcohol-related problems. Neither group maintained reductions in alcohol use or alcohol-related problems at the 12-month follow-up.

Conclusions: This study provided preliminary evidence that web-based DBF and PNF are efficacious interventions for college drinkers, with DBF having somewhat longer lasting effects.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study flowchart. PNF = personalized normative feedback; HDE = heavy drinking episode.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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