The primary objective of this project is to assess the efficacy of a computer delivered personalized drinking feedback (PDF) intervention among veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (OEF/OIF). Research has shown that OEF/OIF veterans are at-risk for a number of mental health problems, including hazardous alcohol use. Unfortunately, it is also the case that many OEF/OIF veterans who report hazardous alcohol use are not receiving any services designed to help them reduce their drinking. Interventions that utilized personalized drinking feedback, such as comparing one's alcohol use to relevant norms, summaries of alcohol-related problems experienced, use or lack thereof of alcohol-related protective behaviors, and family history of alcoholism, have been shown to be efficacious in the context of one-on-one motivational interviewing-based interventions. More recently, studies primarily among the college student population have supported the efficacy of PDF interventions delivered without clinical contact, or """"""""PDF-only"""""""" interventions. PDF-only interventions are innovative, low cost, and relatively easy to disseminate, but their effectiveness at preventing hazardous alcohol use among non-college populations is largely unknown. Given the high rates of hazardous drinking among OEF/OIF veterans combined with their lack of service utilization, PDF-only interventions may be a way to provide this at-risk group with needed services. Therefore, the primary purpose of the study will be to test the effectiveness of a computer delivered PDF-only intervention at preventing hazardous alcohol-use and alcohol-related problems among OEF/OIF military veterans. A secondary aim will be to examine potential mediators and moderators of intervention effectiveness. Subjects will be randomized to either a PDF-only or educational information condition, and will complete measures of alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and other alcohol-related variables at baseline, one-month, and six-month follow-up. Analyses of follow-up between-group differences while controlling for baseline values will be used to determine the efficacy of the PDF-only intervention.
Excessive drinking among OEF/OIF veterans represents an important public health problem for both the veterans themselves and those with whom they interact. The objective of this research is to better understand how to reduce hazardous drinking among this group by assessing the effectiveness of a low-cost, computer-delivered preventive program.
| Cadigan, Jennifer M; Klanecky, Alicia K; Martens, Matthew P (2017) An examination of alcohol risk profiles and co-occurring mental health symptoms among OEF/OIF veterans. Addict Behav 70:54-60 |
| Cadigan, Jennifer M; Weaver, Cameron C; McAfee, Nicholas W et al. (2015) A confirmatory factor analysis of the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale among OEF/OIF veterans. Addict Behav 51:127-30 |
| Martens, Matthew P; Cadigan, Jennifer M; Rogers, Randall E et al. (2015) Personalized drinking feedback intervention for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: a randomized controlled trial. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 76:355-9 |
| Klanecky, Alicia K; Cadigan, Jennifer M; Martens, Matthew P et al. (2014) Examining Spouse/Partner Presence as a Moderator in the Relationship between Mental Health Symptoms and Alcohol Use in OEF/OIF Veterans. Mil Psychol 26:366-375 |
