Dataset Information

Test of a deviance regulation theory intervention among first-year college student drinkers: Differential effects via frequency and quantity norms.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

First-time-in-college (FTIC) students are relatively inexperienced with alcohol and have pressure to assimilate to new norms, and, therefore, are at a heightened risk of alcohol-related consequences. The present study investigates the use of a brief deviance regulation theory (DRT) intervention to increase the use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) among FTIC students.

Method

Participation took place completely online. Participants were first-year college students (n = 147, M_age = 18.11, 77.68% female) at a large southwest U.S. university. Participants were randomly assigned one of three conditions: (a) a positive message about individuals who use PBS, (b) a negative message about individuals who do not use PBS, or (c) an assessment-only control group. Participants then completed weekly assessments for 5 weeks, examining alcohol use and consequences, PBS use, and perceived PBS norms. Contrasting previous research, the present study investigated weekly effects of the intervention. In addition, norm type (quantity vs. frequency) was examined as moderators of intervention messaging.

Results

Across conditions, both quantity and frequency norms increased over time. The positive message produced immediate and lasting effects on SLD PBS among those with higher (+ 1 SD) frequency norms. The intervention effects for the negative message, using the quantity norm, grew across time on all PBS.

Conclusions

These results provide initial support for the use of a DRT prevention program for FTIC students. Negative messages may promote long-term PBS use, while positive messages may be most effective in addressing immediate and lasting changes in the use of alcohol protective strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

SUBMITTER: Leary AV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8964840 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Test of a deviance regulation theory intervention among first-year college student drinkers: Differential effects via frequency and quantity norms.

Leary Angelina V AV Dvorak Robert D RD Troop-Gordon Wendy W Blanton Hart H Peterson Roselyn R Kramer Matthew P MP De Leon Ardhys N AN Magri Tatiana T

Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors 20210930 6

<h4>Objective</h4>First-time-in-college (FTIC) students are relatively inexperienced with alcohol and have pressure to assimilate to new norms, and, therefore, are at a heightened risk of alcohol-related consequences. The present study investigates the use of a brief deviance regulation theory (DRT) intervention to increase the use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) among FTIC students.<h4>Method</h4>Participation took place completely online. Participants were first-year college students ...[more]

PMID: 34591518

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Project description:The high levels of problematic drinking in college students make clear the need for improvement in the prediction of problematic drinking. We conducted a laboratory-based experiment that investigated whether implicit measures of alcohol-related associations, self-control, and their interaction predicted drinking. Although a few studies have evaluated self-control as a moderator of the relationship between implicit measures of alcohol-related associations and drinking, this study extended that work by using a previously-validated manipulation that included a more (vs. less) cognitively demanding task and incentive to restrain drinking and by evaluating multiple validated measures of alcohol-related associations. Experimental condition was expected to moderate the relationship between implicit measures of alcohol-related associations and drinking, with a more positive relationship between alcohol-related associations and drinking among participants who completed the more (vs. less) cognitive demanding task. Secondary aims were to evaluate how individual differences in control factors (implicit theories about willpower and working memory capacity) might further moderate those relationships. One hundred and five U.S. undergraduate heavy episodic drinkers completed baseline measures of: drinking patterns, three Implicit Association Tests (evaluating drinking identity, alcohol excite, alcohol approach associations) and their explicit measure counterparts, implicit theories about willpower, and working memory capacity. Participants were randomized to complete a task that was more (vs. less) cognitively demanding and were given an incentive to restrain their drinking. They then completed an alcohol taste test. Results were not consistent with expectations. Despite using a previously validated manipulation, there was no evidence that one condition was more demanding than the other, and none of the predicted interactions reached statistical significance. The findings raise questions about the relation between self-control, implicit measures of alcohol-related associations, and drinking, as well as the conditions under which implicit measures of alcohol-related associations predict alcohol consumption in the laboratory.

Project description:BackgroundNorms clarification has been identified as an effective component of college student drinking interventions, prompting research on norms clarification as a single-component intervention known as Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF). Previous reviews have examined PNF in combination with other components but not as a stand-alone intervention.ObjectivesTo investigate the degree to which computer-delivered stand-alone personalized normative feedback interventions reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms among college students and to compare gender-neutral and gender-specific PNF.Data sourcesElectronic databases were searched systematically through November 2014. Reference lists were reviewed manually and forward and backward searches were conducted.Selection criteriaOutcome studies that compared computer-delivered, stand-alone PNF intervention with an assessment only, attention-matched, or active treatment control and reported alcohol use and harms among college students.MethodsBetween-group effect sizes were calculated as the standardized mean difference in change scores between treatment and control groups divided by pooled standard deviation. Within-group effect sizes were calculated as the raw mean difference between baseline and follow-up divided by pooled within-groups standard deviation.ResultsEight studies (13 interventions) with a total of 2,050 participants were included. Compared to control participants, students who received gender-neutral (dbetween = 0.291, 95% CI [0.159, 0.423]) and gender-specific PNF (dbetween = 0.284, 95% CI [0.117, 0.451]) reported greater reductions in drinking from baseline to follow-up. Students who received gender-neutral PNF reported 3.027 (95% CI [2.171, 3.882]) fewer drinks per week at first follow-up and gender-specific PNF reported 3.089 (95% CI [0.992, 5.186]) fewer drinks. Intervention effects were small for harms (dbetween = 0.157, 95% CI [0.037, 0.278]).ConclusionsComputer-delivered PNF is an effective stand-alone approach for reducing college student drinking and has a small impact on alcohol-related harms. Effects are small but clinically relevant when considered from a public health perspective. Additional research is needed to examine computer-delivered, stand-alone PNF as a population-level prevention program.

Dataset Information

Test of a deviance regulation theory intervention among first-year college student drinkers: Differential effects via frequency and quantity norms.

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Test of a deviance regulation theory intervention among first-year college student drinkers: Differential effects via frequency and quantity norms.

Similar Datasets

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