The goal of this Phase I/Phase II Fast-Track application is to develop and evaluate a simulation-based product for training student affairs staff (e.g., resident assistants [RAs], Greek life staff, campus and housing security, student conduct staff, and academic advisors) to assess and provide appropriate intervention to students who engage in risky drinking behaviors ( AUDIT] score of six or higher) to ultimately reduce the number of alcohol-related incidents in university settings. Building upon successful previous collaborations, SIMmersion, LLC and Dr. Michael Fleming of Northwestern University are proposing to develop a computer-based training system with role-play simulations that will provide opportunities for staff members to learn skills for assessing student drinking behavior and providing an appropriate intervention or referral using Motivational Interviewing through repeated practice in a safe environment. It is anticipated that the final product will include five hours of interactive, e-learning content to provide opportunities for knowledge acquisition, ten or more hours of role-play practice across three student scenarios (i.e., assessment, intervention, and referral), and comprehensive feedback. One-hundred twenty student affairs staff will be recruited from four universities in the Chicago College Drinking Research Consortium to participate in a randomized control trial to test the efficacy of the training product when development is complete. Eighty participants will be randomly assigned to the experimental group and will receive access to the training program; forty participants will be randomly assigned to the control group and will receive no additional training. All participants will conduc baseline and post-intervention standardized patient interviews; primary outcomes of the study will measure increases in participant skill levels. Ultimately, the development and evaluation of this training product could reduce the instances of risky drinking behaviors by appropriately training student affairs staff to assess problem drinking patterns and to provide appropriate interventions to students who engage in risky and problem drinking behaviors. We expect most of the 4100 four year colleges and universities in the United States would be interested in purchasing this product, because this unique computer-based training platform will provide them with the opportunity for ongoing training of new and existing staff in a safe and controlled environment. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test
Highly-realistic, computer-based role-play simulations can be utilized to train student affairs staff to apply evidence-based approaches needed to improve alcohol assessment and interventions in order to reduce high- risk drinking and alcohol-related harm on college campuses.
