Brief Academic Future Thinking Intervention for College Student Drinkers

Episodic Future Thinking as a Brief Alcohol Intervention for Heavy Drinking College Students: A Pilot Feasibility Study

The present study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and initial utility of a brief academic goal-relevant episodic future thinking (A-EFT) task among heavy college drinkers.

First, the study attempts to extend the temporal reach of EFT interventions which have demonstrated immediate reductions in discounting, and alcohol demand. The current study utilized a longitudinal design to evaluate whether EFT can change drinking behavior outside the lab in heavy drinking college students. The two-group experimental design included an active control group, weekly booster contact, and 1-month follow-up. Second, this study seeks to investigate whether the process of engaging in EFT is sufficient to produce effects when cues are not presented during the decision-making task. Lastly, this study adds an academic goal-related focus to the EFT task based on previous research indicating that forming meaningful academic goals is protective against drinking and associated problems.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Heavy Drinking
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Academic Episodic Future Thinking; Other: Vivid Memory Task

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 45
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Tennessee
    • Memphis, Tennessee, United States, 38152
      • The University of Memphis

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 25 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Full-time Freshman/Sophomore Student
• 2+ Recent heavy drinking episodes (4/5 standard drinks in one sitting for men/women)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current or past substance abuse treatment
• Current moderate/severe depressive symptoms

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental: Episodic Future Thinking	Behavioral: Academic Episodic Future Thinking; Brief Academic goal related EFT intervention involving desirable outcomes of current academic goals
Active Comparator: Control: Vivid Memory Task	Other: Vivid Memory Task; Matched for time control task involving recall of vivid memories of distinct events/actions from a children's story

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Daily Drinking Questionnaire	Indicate how many standard drinks were consumed on each day of a "typical week" in the past month	Baseline
Daily Drinking Questionnaire	Indicate how many standard drinks were consumed on each day of a "typical week" in the past month	1-month post
Alcohol-Related Consequences	Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire - Indicate "yes" or "no" to experiencing each alcohol-related consequences in the past month	Baseline
Alcohol-Related Consequences	Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire - Indicate "yes" or "no" to experiencing each alcohol-related consequences in the past month	1-month post
Alcohol Demand	Alcohol Purchase Task - Indicate hypothetical alcohol purchase behavior at a variety of price points	Baseline
Alcohol Demand	Alcohol Purchase Task - Indicate hypothetical alcohol purchase behavior at a variety of price points	Post-session - immediately after intervention;control
Alcohol Demand	Alcohol Purchase Task - Indicate hypothetical alcohol purchase behavior at a variety of price points	1-month post
Delayed Reward Discounting	5-Choice Minute Discounting task - Indicate preference for various choices of immediate small vs. larger delayed rewards	Baseline
Delayed Reward Discounting	5-Choice Minute Discounting task - Indicate preference for various choices of immediate small vs. larger delayed rewards	Post-session - immediately after intervention/control
Delayed Reward Discounting	5-Choice Minute Discounting task - Indicate preference for various choices of immediate small vs. larger delayed rewards	1-month post

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Protective Behavioral Strategies	Indicate frequency of use of each protective strategy on a 1-6 Likert-type scale (1 = Never, 6 = Always)	Baseline
Protective Behavioral Strategies	Indicate frequency of use of each protective strategy on a 1-6 Likert-type scale (1 = Never, 6 = Always)	1-month post
Academic Engagement	Single item assessing time spent studying during the past week	Baseline
Academic Engagement	Single item assessing time spent studying during the past week	1-month post

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Memphis

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Voss AT, Jorgensen MK, Murphy JG. Episodic future thinking as a brief alcohol intervention for heavy drinking college students: A pilot feasibility study. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2022 Jun;30(3):313-325. doi: 10.1037/pha0000451. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 20, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 30, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): August 30, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 5, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 17, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): February 19, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 19, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 17, 2020
• Last Verified: February 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: PRO-FY2017-587

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No