College Student Daily Life and Alcohol Use Study

January 20, 2025 updated by: Boston University Charles River Campus

Enhancing Computer-delivered Approaches to Reduce Heavy/Hazardous Alcohol Use Among College Students

Heavy alcohol use among college students is associated with a range of negative consequences. However, college students rarely seek resources or treatment to change their alcohol use. Brief alcohol interventions (BAIs) have been developed as an alternative method to address heavy alcohol use among college students and show promise in reducing hazardous alcohol use in college students. Despite the established efficacy of BAIs, effects are often small and short-lived, and additional research is needed to investigate how BAIs can become more efficacious and endure for longer periods of time, particularly for computer-delivered interventions to improve accessibility and scalability of these interventions to a wider range of college students. Boosters or adjunctive components to BAIs have been suggested as a method to enhance the magnitude and duration of intervention effects. However, there remains a need to identify and test booster approaches that are both appealing and engaging to college students and effective in reducing heavy/hazardous alcohol use above and beyond the magnitude and duration seen by BAIs alone. The purpose of the study is to develop and test a novel, text-messaging booster as an adjunct to a current, evidence-based brief intervention, eCHECKUP TO GO, aimed at reducing college student heavy/hazardous alcohol use. Participants will complete baseline measures and will then be randomized to 1 of 3 conditions, stratified by sex at birth: 1) assessment only, 2) BAI only, and 3) Enhanced Intervention (BAI + four weeks of text messaging boosters). It is hypothesized that those randomized to the enhanced intervention condition will show a greater reduction in heavy/hazardous alcohol use at 3-month follow-up compared to the BAI and assessment only groups.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

129

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
        • Boston University Charles River Campus

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 1) Ages 18-30; 2) report at least 2 heavy drinking episodes in the past month; 3) be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program; 4) own a smartphone with capability to run smartphone application

Exclusion Criteria:

  • 1) current or past-year treatment (counseling or medication) for alcohol or drug use, 2) history of delirium tremens and/or seizures as a result of alcohol withdrawal, and 3) a lifetime diagnosis of either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Assessment Only
Assessment only condition, no intervention material delivered to this group
Active Comparator: Intervention (BAI) Only
Only the brief alcohol intervention, eCHECKUP TO GO, is administered to this group
Behavioral: eCHECKUP TO GO
Single session, web-based intervention for college students aimed at increasing awareness of consequences related to heavy alcohol use and increase motivation to modify one's alcohol use.
Other Names:
  • eCHUG (former name)
Experimental: Enhanced Intervention
Brief alcohol intervention, eCHECKUP TO GO, + 4 weeks of text messaging boosters (Monday, Thursday-Sunday)
Behavioral: eCHECKUP TO GO
Single session, web-based intervention for college students aimed at increasing awareness of consequences related to heavy alcohol use and increase motivation to modify one's alcohol use.
Other Names:
  • eCHUG (former name)
Behavioral: Text messaging boosters
Text messages sent a few times per week following completion of eCHECKUP TO GO to reinforce concepts and assist with goal setting and goal attainment in everyday life

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Heavy drinking episodes
Time Frame: assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up
Number of past-month heavy drinking episodes (consuming 4+ drinks for females and 5+ drinks for males in one occasion)
assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up
Alcohol-related negative consequences
Time Frame: assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up
Number of alcohol-related negative consequences experienced in the past month
assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Boston University Charles River Campus

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Bonnie Rowland, MA, Boston University Charles River Campus

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 22, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 10, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 10, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

April 15, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 20, 2025

Last Verified

January 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 7313E

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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