Effectiveness of the Brief Alcohol and Screening Intervention for College Students (BASICS) Program With a Mandated Population

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a large-scale intervention designed to reduce alcohol abuse among adjudicated college students. Participants: Participants were college students mandated to attend a Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) program and a randomly selected comparison group of high-risk drinkers. Methods: Data were collected from January 2006 through December 2008. A total of 1,390 (67%) students in the intervention group and 508 (61%) students in the comparison group completed baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys. Results: Male students in the intervention group significantly decreased their drinking at follow-up, whereas those in the comparison group increased their drinking. Women in both the intervention and comparison groups decreased their drinking at 6 months. Conclusions: When implemented with fidelity, BASICS is a generally effective intervention, especially for male adjudicated college students. The intervention was most effective for moderate- and high-risk drinkers.

Keywords:

• alcohol
• community health
• health education

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The study was funded by The Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, grant number TI17268 and the United States Department of Education Model Grant Program grant number Q184N080015. The authors would like to thank Diane Fedorchak for assistance with data collection and Guoshu Yuan and Eva Goldwater for their assistance with data analysis.