Testing the Efficacy of a Brief Alcohol Intervention Among College Students

January 13, 2025 updated by: Amanda Gilmore, Georgia State University

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial to Test the Efficacy of a Brief Alcohol Intervention Among College Students

Individuals will be recruited to participate in a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of a prevention program aimed at reducing alcohol use among college students. If randomized to the intervention, participants will view personalized content based on their alcohol use and chosen identity and learn about various topics related to alcohol use, including ways to reduce their use. Control participants will be directed to a website where information regarding mental health and substance use may be found. Baseline mental health, alcohol use, and related constructs will be assessed. Participants will complete a 3-month follow-up survey to assess the efficacy of the tool in symptom reduction.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Students will be recruited by campus flyers, social media, and a registrar list to participate in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the efficacy of a prevention program aimed at reducing alcohol use among college students. Participants will also be recruited from a list of students who completed the Panthers4Life community needs assessment. Interested students will first complete a screener to determine eligibility (i.e., enrolled GSU student, 18-25 years of age, identifies as Black, White and LGBTQA+, Latine/a/o or Hispanic, and engaged in heavy episodic drinking at least once in the past month). Individuals who identify their sex at birth to be intersex or who identify themselves to be both heterosexual and gender diverse (Transgender, Genderqueer, Gender non-conforming, Non-binary, Androgynous, and Two-spirit) will be excluded due to the lack of normative data about these groups. Eligible participants will immediately be given the informed consent and asked to complete a baseline survey (15 minutes). In the baseline survey, participants will select identity group(s) they most identify with and select identity group(s) they would like to receive personalized normative feedback about. Participants will then be randomized to either complete a brief online intervention (treatment group) or view website information about substance use and mental health (control group).

If randomized to the intervention, participants will complete an intervention in Qualtrics Survey Platform that takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. They will view personalized content based on their alcohol use and chosen identity (e.g., if a participant chooses woman and LGBQA+ they will receive personalized normative feedback for women LGBQA+ students at GSU) and learn about various topics related to alcohol use, including ways to reduce their use. The intervention is a modified version of an existing evidence-based program, the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS).

Participants assigned the control condition will be directed to a website where information regarding mental health and substance use may be found.

In both groups, the investigators will assess baseline mental health, alcohol use, and related constructs. Both groups will also be asked to complete a 3-month follow-up survey to assess the efficacy of the tool in symptom reduction. Cultural acceptability will also be assessed to determine if cultural adaptations are needed to enhance efficacy among groups represented in our sample. Participants will be compensated up to $30 in Amazon gift cards for their time ($15 for the baseline survey and $15 for the 3-month follow up).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

461

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
    • Georgia
      • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30303
        • Georiga State University

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

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18-25 years old
  • Current student at university of study
  • Valid email address at university of study
  • Identifies as Black, White and LGBTQA+, Latine/a/o or Hispanic,
  • Endorse engaging in heavy episodic drinking at least once in the past month on the screening survey

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals who identify their sex at birth as intersex or who identify as both heterosexual and gender diverse (Transgender, Genderqueer, Gender non-conforming, Non-binary, Androgynous, and Two-spirit) will be excluded due to the lack of normative data about these groups.

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
Experimental: Online Personalized Normative Feedback Intervention Targeting Alcohol Misuse
This is an integrated social norms-based personalized feedback intervention for college students targeting alcohol misuse. It is tailored by the identities chosen by participants including gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The intervention is a modified version of an existing evidence-based program, the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) (Dimeff, et. al, 1999).
Behavioral: Online Personalized Normative Feedback Intervention Targeting Alcohol Misuse
This is an integrated social norms-based personalized feedback intervention for college students targeting alcohol misuse. It is tailored by the identities chosen by participants including gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The intervention is a modified version of an existing evidence-based program, the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) (Dimeff, et. al, 1999).
Placebo Comparator: Mental Health and Substance Use Resources
Participants were directed to a website where information regarding mental health and substance use may be found.
Behavioral: Mental Health and Substance Use Resources
Participants were directed to a website where information regarding mental health and substance use may be found.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in Alcohol use
Time Frame: Baseline and 3-months
Number of drinks will be assessed using the daily drinking questionnaire. Higher scores indicate higher alcohol use.
Baseline and 3-months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Georgia State University

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)

August 23, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 21, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

January 21, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 8, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 13, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 13, 2025

Last Verified

January 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • H24001

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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