Reducing Heavy Episodic Drinking among College Students Using a Combined Web and Interactive Text Messaging Intervention

ABSTRACT

Heavy episodic drinking (HDE) is associated with numerous negative consequences among US college students. A number of universities have turned to web-based interventions to reduce heavy episodic drinking. Despite their efficacy, the magnitude of intervention effects tends to be relatively modest. The current project examined the potential utility of a combined interactive text messaging + web-based intervention for heavy drinking college students. In Study 1 (N = 30), effect sizes were estimated for the combined intervention versus an assessment only control on frequency of HDEs and alcohol-related consequences at one-month follow-up. In Study 2 (N = 79), the effect of the combined intervention compared to a web-intervention alone on past-month HDEs and alcohol-related consequences was assessed using negative binomial regression analyses. Results indicated that the combined intervention had a medium to large effect on HDEs compared to Assessment Only (Study 1) and a significant incremental effect on HDEs compared to the web-based intervention alone (Study 2). Cognitive-motivational process variables were also examined in each study to identify potential mediational mechanisms to be explored in the future work. Findings suggest a combination web-based intervention + interactive text messaging may be an efficacious approach for addressing heavy episodic drinking among risky drinking college students.

KEYWORDS:

• Web-based intervention
• text messaging
• alcohol
• college students
• heavy drinking

Contributors

Both authors were involved in the design, implementation, and statistical analyses of the study and both authors have contributed to and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Notes

1. There was no significant association between intervention condition and completion of the follow-up assessment (x² = 1.11, p = 0.29).

Additional information

Funding

No external funding sources were utilized in the development or implementation of this research study.