The broad, long-term objective of the current proposal is to reduce alcohol-related negative consequences and drinking behavior among college students.
The specific aims of the proposal are to (1) demonstrate the effectiveness of a mass-media social norms campaign in increasing accuracy of perception of campus drinking norms and decreasing alcohol consumption and negative consequences; (2) demonstrate the added effectiveness of a direct mail norms and skills training campaign in achieving these goals; (3) demonstrate the added effectiveness of a brief group motivational enhancement/skills training intervention for high-risk drinkers on the college campus; (4) evaluate moderators and mediators of the efficacy of each intervention component, individually and in combination; and (5) examine correlates/predictors of campus-wide and individual program success. The primary aims of the research will be carried out through conducting a multiple-baseline trial, across three Washington State campuses, of three sequential """"""""stepped-care"""""""" interventions: A universal prevention, mass-media delivered social norms campaign, a direct-mail social norms and skills training campaign, and an indicated prevention program using brief motivational enhancement and skills training in small group format. Each phase of the intervention will be implemented first on the Western Washington University campus, next on the University of Washington campus, and then The Evergreen State College campus. Annual assessments of drinking practices, other substance use, perceived norms, attitudes, readiness to change, and alcohol consequences will be conducted on each campus, prior to the implementation of each successive intervention component. In addition, participants on each campus will be randomly assigned to receive or not-receive the direct-mail and brief intervention components. It will be possible with this design to evaluate the effectiveness of the phase II and phase III interventions independently and in combination. This design also allows for an evaluation of moderators and mediators of intervention effectiveness on the individual level, as well as evaluating unique features across the three campuses that contribute to program outcome.
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