Timing Personalized Feedback After Alcohol Health Education (TIME)

Heavy episodic alcohol use within the college student population is widespread, creating problems for student drinkers, their peers, and their institutions. Negative consequences from heavy alcohol use can be mild (e.g., hangovers, missed classes), to severe (e.g., assault, even death). Although online interventions targeting college student drinking reduce alcohol consumption and associated problems, they are not as effective as in-person interventions. Online interventions are cost-effective, offer privacy, reduce stigma, and may reach individuals who would otherwise not receive treatment.

In a recently completed randomized, controlled trial, an emailed booster with personalized feedback improved the efficacy of a popular online intervention (Braitman & Henson, 2016). A second randomized, controlled trial confirmed efficacy for students of legal drinking age for a longer timeline (Braitman & Lau-Barraco, 2018). Although promising, the booster incorporated in the study needs further empirical refinement.

The current project seeks to build on past progress by further developing and refining the booster. In particular, to identify the most efficacious timing for sending the feedback. The content will be similar across conditions, but will be disseminated at different times to identify the most impactful timeline. There will be 6 study conditions: those who receive the emailed feedback 2, 6, 10, or 14 weeks after baseline, or at all of those times, or not at all (control). Thus, the aim of the current study is to identify optimal timing for sending the tailored booster feedback via booster email.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: College Student Drinking
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: e-checkup to go; Behavioral: Feedback booster

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 195
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Virginia
    • Norfolk, Virginia, United States, 23529
      • Old Dominion University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 24 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Current college students at the sponsor institution at the time of enrollment
• Between the ages of 18 and 24
• Consumed at least standard drink of alcohol in the past 2 weeks

Exclusion Criteria:

• Under age of 18
• Over age of 24
• Not a college student
• Did not drink alcohol in the past 2 weeks

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

6

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Intervention-only Control; Participants navigate through e-checkup to go, the well-established alcohol intervention. Any follow-up emails sent to them later contain only a reminder to participate in follow-up surveys.	Behavioral: e-checkup to go; The e-checkup to go alcohol program is designed to motivate individuals to reduce their alcohol consumption using personalized information about their own use and risk factors. The program is a combination of several components including alcohol education, personalized feedback, attitude-focused strategies, and skills training. It is self-guided and requires no face-to-face time with an administrator. It provides tailored feedback regarding quantity and frequency of alcohol use, normative comparisons, physical health information, amount and percent of income spent on alcohol, negative consequences feedback, explanation and advice for how to reach their goals, and resources.
Active Comparator: Intervention plus 2-week feedback booster; Participants navigate through e-checkup to go, the well-established alcohol intervention, then receive the feedback booster email 2 weeks later. It contains a reminder to participate in follow-up surveys, plus personalized feedback based on participant-reported perceived alcohol norms, actual alcohol norms, their own use, and harm reduction strategies.	Behavioral: e-checkup to go; The e-checkup to go alcohol program is designed to motivate individuals to reduce their alcohol consumption using personalized information about their own use and risk factors. The program is a combination of several components including alcohol education, personalized feedback, attitude-focused strategies, and skills training. It is self-guided and requires no face-to-face time with an administrator. It provides tailored feedback regarding quantity and frequency of alcohol use, normative comparisons, physical health information, amount and percent of income spent on alcohol, negative consequences feedback, explanation and advice for how to reach their goals, and resources.; Behavioral: Feedback booster; Booster emails will contain normative feedback indicating average consumption for students at the same institution by sex, their perceptions of student drinkers at the same institution, their own reported consumption, and reminders of strategies they can use to protect themselves from alcohol-related harm.
Active Comparator: Intervention plus 6-week feedback booster; Participants navigate through e-checkup to go, the well-established alcohol intervention, then receive the feedback booster email 6 weeks later. It contains a reminder to participate in follow-up surveys, plus personalized feedback based on participant-reported perceived alcohol norms, actual alcohol norms, their own use, and harm reduction strategies.	Behavioral: e-checkup to go; The e-checkup to go alcohol program is designed to motivate individuals to reduce their alcohol consumption using personalized information about their own use and risk factors. The program is a combination of several components including alcohol education, personalized feedback, attitude-focused strategies, and skills training. It is self-guided and requires no face-to-face time with an administrator. It provides tailored feedback regarding quantity and frequency of alcohol use, normative comparisons, physical health information, amount and percent of income spent on alcohol, negative consequences feedback, explanation and advice for how to reach their goals, and resources.; Behavioral: Feedback booster; Booster emails will contain normative feedback indicating average consumption for students at the same institution by sex, their perceptions of student drinkers at the same institution, their own reported consumption, and reminders of strategies they can use to protect themselves from alcohol-related harm.
Active Comparator: Intervention plus 10-week feedback booster; Participants navigate through e-checkup to go, the well-established alcohol intervention, then receive the feedback booster email 10 weeks later. It contains a reminder to participate in follow-up surveys, plus personalized feedback based on participant-reported perceived alcohol norms, actual alcohol norms, their own use, and harm reduction strategies.	Behavioral: e-checkup to go; The e-checkup to go alcohol program is designed to motivate individuals to reduce their alcohol consumption using personalized information about their own use and risk factors. The program is a combination of several components including alcohol education, personalized feedback, attitude-focused strategies, and skills training. It is self-guided and requires no face-to-face time with an administrator. It provides tailored feedback regarding quantity and frequency of alcohol use, normative comparisons, physical health information, amount and percent of income spent on alcohol, negative consequences feedback, explanation and advice for how to reach their goals, and resources.; Behavioral: Feedback booster; Booster emails will contain normative feedback indicating average consumption for students at the same institution by sex, their perceptions of student drinkers at the same institution, their own reported consumption, and reminders of strategies they can use to protect themselves from alcohol-related harm.
Active Comparator: Intervention plus 14-week feedback booster; Participants navigate through e-checkup to go, the well-established alcohol intervention, then receive the feedback booster email 14 weeks later. It contains a reminder to participate in follow-up surveys, plus personalized feedback based on participant-reported perceived alcohol norms, actual alcohol norms, their own use, and harm reduction strategies.	Behavioral: e-checkup to go; The e-checkup to go alcohol program is designed to motivate individuals to reduce their alcohol consumption using personalized information about their own use and risk factors. The program is a combination of several components including alcohol education, personalized feedback, attitude-focused strategies, and skills training. It is self-guided and requires no face-to-face time with an administrator. It provides tailored feedback regarding quantity and frequency of alcohol use, normative comparisons, physical health information, amount and percent of income spent on alcohol, negative consequences feedback, explanation and advice for how to reach their goals, and resources.; Behavioral: Feedback booster; Booster emails will contain normative feedback indicating average consumption for students at the same institution by sex, their perceptions of student drinkers at the same institution, their own reported consumption, and reminders of strategies they can use to protect themselves from alcohol-related harm.
Active Comparator: Intervention plus repeated feedback boosters; Participants navigate through e-checkup to go, the well-established alcohol intervention, then receive the multiple feedback booster emails, 2, 6, 10, and 14 weeks later. Each time, the email contains a reminder to participate in follow-up surveys, plus personalized feedback based on participant-reported perceived alcohol norms, actual alcohol norms, their own use, and harm reduction strategies.	Behavioral: e-checkup to go; The e-checkup to go alcohol program is designed to motivate individuals to reduce their alcohol consumption using personalized information about their own use and risk factors. The program is a combination of several components including alcohol education, personalized feedback, attitude-focused strategies, and skills training. It is self-guided and requires no face-to-face time with an administrator. It provides tailored feedback regarding quantity and frequency of alcohol use, normative comparisons, physical health information, amount and percent of income spent on alcohol, negative consequences feedback, explanation and advice for how to reach their goals, and resources.; Behavioral: Feedback booster; Booster emails will contain normative feedback indicating average consumption for students at the same institution by sex, their perceptions of student drinkers at the same institution, their own reported consumption, and reminders of strategies they can use to protect themselves from alcohol-related harm.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Alcohol Consumption	Participant self-reported number of standard drinks consumed by participant over a typical week for the past 30 days.	past 30 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Alcohol-Related Consequences	Participant self-report on the Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (YAACQ; Read, Kahler, Strong, & Colder, 2006), which assesses alcohol-related problems experienced by the participant. Total scores are created by summing all individual items, and range from 0 to 48, with higher values representing more problems experienced (i.e., worse outcomes).	past 30 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Abby Braitman
• Collaborators: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Braitman AL, Lau-Barraco C. Personalized Boosters After a Computerized Intervention Targeting College Drinking: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2018 Sep;42(9):1735-1747. doi: 10.1111/acer.13815. Epub 2018 Jul 11.
• Braitman AL, Henson JM. Personalized boosters for a computerized intervention targeting college drinking: The influence of protective behavioral strategies. J Am Coll Health. 2016 Oct;64(7):509-19. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2016.1185725. Epub 2016 May 5.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 30, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 12, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): September 12, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 26, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 26, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): July 1, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 3, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 28, 2023
• Last Verified: April 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Drinking Behavior; Alcohol Drinking; Alcohol Drinking in College
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20-044; K01AA023849 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No