Does a Brief Motivational Intervention Reduce Frequency of Pregaming in Mandated Students?

ABSTRACT

Background: Pregaming, also known as frontloading or predrinking, is a common but risky drinking behavior among college students. However, little is known about the way in which a brief motivational intervention (BMI) addressing general alcohol use and consequences may impact pregaming frequency. Objectives: This study examined whether mandated students reduced frequency of pregaming following a BMI when pregaming was spontaneously discussed and whether gender moderated these effects. Methods: Participants (n = 269, 32% female) were mandated college students who had received a campus-based alcohol citation and continued to exhibit risky alcohol use six weeks after receiving a brief advice session. Participants were randomized to a brief motivational intervention (BMI, n = 145) or assessment only (AO, n = 124) and completed follow-up assessments at 3, 6, and 9 months postintervention. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine both between-person (Level 2) effects (i.e., condition) and within-person (Level 1) effects (i.e., time) on pregaming frequency. Analyses examining discussions of pregaming within the BMI were conducted using a subsample of the BMI sessions which had been transcribed (n = 121). Results: Participants in the BMI group did not significantly reduce the frequency of pregaming compared to those in the AO group, even when pregaming was explicitly discussed during the BMI. Moreover, the BMI was equally ineffective at reducing pregaming frequency for both males and females. Conclusion/Importance: Pregaming frequency appears to be resistant to conventional intervention efforts, but recent research suggests several innovative strategies for addressing pregaming in the college student population.

KEYWORDS:

• Pregaming
• brief intervention
• alcohol
• college students
• mandated

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brian Borsari

Brian Borsari received his PhD in clinical psychology from Syracuse University in 2003. He is currently at the San Francisco Veteran Affairs Medical Center and Professor in Residence in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California - San Francisco. His research interests include the development and implementation of brief motivational interventions with college student drinkers, the social influences on alcohol (e.g., modeling and norms), high-risk behaviors such as pregaming and drinking games, and in-session processes of motivational interviewing that are related to behavior change. In 2007, Dr. Borsari joined the Veteran Health Administration as a clinical psychologist. His research interests there involve the assessment and treatment of substance use disorders, training VHA staff in motivational interviewing and other client-centered communication to facilitate behavior change, and working with veterans who are attending college.

Jennifer E. Merrill

Jennifer E. Merrill, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University. She is interested in the etiology and treatment of alcohol misuse among young adults, with a current focus on how college students subjectively evaluate the consequences of their drinking.

Ali Yurasek

Ali Yurasek received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Memphis in 2014. She is focusing on the development and evaluation of brief motivational interventions for marijuana and alcohol use in adolescents and young adults, with particular interest in examining behavioral economic concepts as mechanisms of change.

Mary Beth Miller

Mary Beth Miller is a first-year postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University. Her research aims to enhance understanding of the etiology of substance use disorders in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of treatment. She is particularly interested in the process by which personalized feedback on one’s health and behaviors may facilitate behavior change.

Kate B. Carey

Kate B. Carey is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University School of Public Health. Her research interests include the social, psychological, and environmental causes and consequences of risky drinking, and the factors contributing to alcohol-related risk reduction. She designs and evaluates brief interventions for at-risk drinking, and has tailored brief interventions for various populations, including young adults attending college, psychiatric outpatients, and heavy drinkers in the community.