It is well established that heavy drinking by college students is a national concern. Effective interventions with students have been designed to reduce the personal and communal negative effects of global drinking (Carey et al., 2007;Larimer &Cronce, 2007). However, research suggests that within the broad college environment are windows of increased risk where potential for negative consequences is pronounced (Neighbors et al., 2007b). In addition, it is suggested that some groups of students may be more at-risk than others and targeted Interventions with these groups may be a necessary consideration to reduce the overall Impact of college drinking (NIAAA, 2002). Preliminary research with study abroad (SA) students documents Increased and problematic alcohol use during SA experiences. Despite increasing numbers of SA students each year and a growing concern about this high-risk event among SA program personnel, there is sparse research available documenting effective preventive programs with these students. Thus, the broad objective of this proposal is to examine the efficacy of brief online pre-departure alcohol Interventions with SA students to prevent heavy and problematic drinking while abroad. Preliminary research suggests that perceptions of SA peer drinking are a risk factor for increased alcohol use while abroad. Additionally, factors associated with cultural immersion, few adjustment difficulties, and active participation in the host culture (i.e., a "temporary acculturation (TA)") protect against heavy and problematic use. Therefore, using a 2x2 intervention design with an assessment only control condition, the present study seeks to prevent problematic alcohol use by correcting misperceptions of SA student norms and by promoting TA into the host culture through brief online personalized feedback interventions. Three intervention conditions of personalized normative feedback (PNF) only, temporary acculturation feedback (TAP) only, and combined PNF + TAP will be empirically examined. Interventions will be informed by collection of SA student drinking norms and TA components from a preliminary sample of SA students. The current project aims to meet the mission statement and strategic planning goals of the NIAAA to broaden the reach of alcohol interventions to targeted groups at-risk for heavy and problematic alcohol use, as well as address the public health concern of problematic drinking among an at-risk population lacking empirically supported intervention. The award would also aid in the ethical, methodological, and clinical training and development of a promising new researcher to address the growing need for empirically supported targeted alcohol interventions with at-risk and diverse college students and young adults.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter