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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03864237

Text-based Alcohol Prevention for First Year College Students

This project aims to combat excessive perceived norms that contribute to high volume drinking by young adults, which adversely affects health and academic achievement. Campus-specific survey data will be used to craft accurate, pro-moderation campus norms, and deliver them to first-year students via daily text messages during the first semester of college. It is predicted that those receiving regular exposure to pro-moderation drinking norms will reduce their alcohol consumption and consequences, relative to students who receive non-alcohol-related control texts. This preliminary evaluation uses a novel method of delivering drinking norms and will lay the groundwork for future efforts to scale up this novel alcohol misuse prevention approach.

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Key information

Conditions

College Drinking Alcohol Drinking Alcohol Drinking in College Alcohol-Related Disorders Alcoholism Behavior Chemically-Induced Disorders Drinking Behavior Mental Disorders Substance-Related Disorders

Age range

18 year–20 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island, 02903, United States

About this study

Using mobile technology that most students already have in their pockets, this study evaluates a novel use of text messages to change campus drinking norms. The aim is to correct exaggerated perceptions of drinking norms, and thereby reduce excessive drinking, by delivering daily text messages representing accurate, campus-specific, pro-moderation descriptive norms (what others do) and injunctive norms (what others approve of). It is predicted that with repeated exposure over time, this information will compete with other sources of normative information to which students are exposed during their first year of college. This exploratory study is designed to develop and refine message content and to pilot test the delivery methods.

First year students (N=120) who are underage but report risky drinking (>4/day or >14/week for men; >3/day or >7/week for women) will be randomly assigned to two conditions differing by text content: alcohol norms or attention control. All will receive daily text messages throughout 10 weeks in the first semester of college. Process measures, 3-month post-test, and 3-month follow-up assessments will yield feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcome data to inform future larger scale randomized trials. Specifically, baseline, post-test, and 3-month follow-up assessments will allow us to test the hypotheses that the corrective norms intervention will reduce (a) perceived descriptive and injunctive norms, (b) drinking behavior (including high-volume drinking and risky consumption practices), and (c) alcohol-related consequences, and increase (d) protective behavioral strategies, relative to the control condition.

At the end of this project the investigative team will have gathered data on both descriptive and injunctive norms on a range of drinking behaviors to identify topics in need of corrective normative feedback, refined the structure and content of the text messages, and pilot tested the text-delivered intervention in a small scale randomized controlled trial (RCT). The proposed research will provide evidence of feasibility and efficacy of a text-based alcohol norms intervention for reducing excessive drinking among first-year students.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • 18-20 years of age
  • enrolled as a first-year undergraduate student
  • past month risky drinking
  • possession of a mobile phone with text message capacity
  • use text messaging at least weekly

Exclusion criteria

  • currently engaged in alcohol treatment or in need of treatment (AUDIT score 20 or higher)

Treatment and study plan

Alcohol texts

Behavioral

A text message each day for 10 weeks, containing factual information about campus drinking norms.

Attention Control

Behavioral

A text message each day for 10 weeks, containing "this day in history" facts.

Primary outcomes

  1. Drinks Per Week as Assessed by the Daily Drinking Questionnaire

    Time frame: Assessed over prior 30 days at 3 month follow-up

    Sum of standard drinks consumed on each day in a typical week over the past 30 days; scores can be as low as zero but there is no upper limit as they are counts of drinks

  2. Alcohol-related Consequences as Assessed by the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire

    Time frame: Assessed over prior 30 days at 3 month follow-up

    The total number of alcohol-related consequences experienced over the past 30 days is measured by the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (BYAACQ), which is a checklist of 24 items; scores range from 0-24; higher numbers of items endorsed indicate more problems experienced in the past 30 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. Protective Behavioral Strategies as Assessed by the Strategies Questionnaire - Alternative Sub Scale

    Time frame: Assessed over prior 30 days at 3 month follow-up

    self-reported frequency of using strategies to moderate drinking as reported on the Strategy Questionnaire; the Strategy Questionnaire has 3 sub scales including Selective Avoidance (0-70), Strategies While Drinking (0-100), and Alternatives to Drinking (0-40) and higher sub scale scores indicate more frequent use of those strategies

  2. Perceived Descriptive Drinking Norms as Assessed by the Drinking Norms Rating Form

    Time frame: Assessed over prior 30 days at 3 month follow-up

    perceived descriptive norms are assessed using a variation on the Drinking Norms Rating Form, which asks respondents to estimate the number of standard drinks consumed by other students on campus for each day in a typical week in the past 30 days; daily estimates are summed to yield perceived number of drinks per week for student peers; range of scores can go from zero to no upper limit

  3. Perceived Injunctive Drinking Norms as Assessed by an Adaptation of the Drinking Norms Rating Form

    Time frame: Assessed over prior 30 days at 3 month follow-up

    perceived injunctive norms are assessed using the Krieger et al. (2016) adaptation of the Drinking Norms Rating Form, which asks respondents to estimate the how many standard drinks is deemed acceptable by other students on campus to drink on each day in a typical week in the past 30 days; estimates are summed to yield number of drinks per week approved of by student peers; the scores can range from zero to no upper limit

  4. Protective Behavioral Strategies as Assessed by the Strategies Questionnaire - Selective Avoidance Sub Scale

    Time frame: Assessed over prior 30 days at 3 month follow-up

    self-reported frequency of using strategies to moderate drinking as reported on the Strategy Questionnaire; the Strategy Questionnaire has 3 sub scales including Selective Avoidance (0-70), Strategies While Drinking (0-100), and Alternatives to Drinking (0-40) and higher sub scale scores indicate more frequent use of those strategies

  5. Protective Behavioral Strategies as Assessed by the Strategies Questionnaire - Strategies Sub Scale

    Time frame: Assessed over prior 30 days at 3 month follow-up

    self-reported frequency of using strategies to moderate drinking as reported on the Strategy Questionnaire; the Strategy Questionnaire has 3 sub scales including Selective Avoidance (0-70), Strategies While Drinking (0-100), and Alternatives to Drinking (0-40) and higher sub scale scores indicate more frequent use of those strategies

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Brown University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Correcting Exaggerated Drinking Norms With a Mobile Message Delivery System

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Mar 6, 2019
Registry last updated
Apr 16, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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