The long-term objective of this study is to reduce high-risk drinking and negative alcohol-related consequences in college students. The proposed research will evaluate outcomes, predictors and moderators of outcomes, and cost-effectiveness of three types of brief motivational interventions (BMIs): an empirically supported counselor-administered intervention and two computerized interventions (Alcohol 101 Plus and AlcoholEdu). Although these computer-administered BMIs are widely used and marketed, we lack controlled studies on behavioral outcomes for either of these prevention programs. Participants will be 700 at-risk student drinkers who have been sanctioned to receive an alcohol intervention because they violated residence hall alcohol policy. These referred students will be randomized to one of the three BMIs or to a delayed intervention control, and assessed at baseline and at 1, 6, and 12 months post-intervention. First, we will test hypotheses that (a) in the short-term, student drinkers who receive any of the interventions will reduce high-risk drinking and experience fewer negative consequences of drinking relative to students in the delayed intervention control condition; and (b) in the long-term, students who receive counselor-administered BMIs will reduce high-risk drinking and negative consequences to a greater extent than will students who receive either computer-administered BMI. Second, we will assess whether personal (e.g., gender, baseline drinking), motivational (e.g., readiness to change), and social influence (e.g., perceived norms, social network composition) variables will predict and/or moderate student response to the BMIs. Third, we will combine information on both the efficacy and the costs of all three interventions in a cost-effectiveness analysis. The results of the this study will provide guidance to university and college administrators who currently must make policy decisions without efficacy data regarding computer-administered BMIs, or information on the relative cost-effectiveness of BMIs administered by computer vs. by trained counselors.
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