Press Release: A Controlled Trial of Web-based Feedback for Heavy Drinking College Students

Walters, S. T., Vader, A. M., & Harris, T. R. (2007). A Controlled Trial of Web-based Feedback for Heavy Drinking College Students. Prevention Science, 8(2), 83-88.

While many Texas college students are in the middle of the 24/7 party that is spring break, University of Texas School of Public Health researchers are reporting that a programme on the Internet (www.e-CHUG.com) can not only help reduce alcohol consumption, but also change students' views about what is considered normal drinking.

The study, published in the March 2007 issue of Prevention Science, found that students who received personalised feedback from e-CHUG reported a drop in drinking levels 8 weeks earlier than those who did not get any feedback.

“On average, college students drink a little more than adults, but what makes college drinking so risky is the pattern,” said lead author Scott Walters, Ph.D. “Instead of drinking small amounts all through the week, they're more likely to save it up and drink it all at once. It's the bunching together of drinks that makes college drinking particularly risky. And nowhere does that bunching occur more than spring break. The average student drinks three times as much during spring break as he or she would during a normal weekend. This is true for students who usually drink, and it is also true for many students who usually abstain. Many abstainers jump ship during spring break.”

The online programme asks students a series of questions about their drinking. Based on their responses, it assembles a customised feedback profile of how much the student is drinking and spending on alcohol, how many calories they are consuming from alcohol, and a variety of risk factors. The programme also provides information on how the student's drinking fits in with that of other college students.

“It can be a real surprise to some students to find out they're in the 95th percentile in terms of their drinking – it just never occurred to them,” said Walters, an assistant professor of health promotion and behavioural sciences at the Dallas Regional Campus of the UT School of Public Health.

The study involved 350 college students who were randomly selected to receive or not receive feedback from the e-CHUG. All students completed follow-up assessments at 8 and 16 weeks. Compared to students who did not receive feedback, there was a significant drop at 8 weeks in the number of drinks per week among students who received the feedback. Although both groups decreased their drinking over 16 weeks, the feedback group showed a reduction in drinking much earlier than the group that did not receive feedback.

The results suggest that e-CHUG accelerated a decline in heavy drinking, researchers said. Also, after receiving feedback, students were much more accurate in estimating how their drinking compared with that of others. Students who were more accurate in estimating their drinking relative to other students, also showed the largest reductions in drinking behaviour.

“Students who travel and students who spend spring break with friends are more likely to drink than students who go home or do a service project,” Walters said. “As a result of the heavy drinking, there is more violence, sexual assaults and property damage at a big cost to the community.”

Other authors of the study are research assistant Amanda Vader and T. Robert Harris, Ph.D., associate professor of biostatistics – both at the Dallas Regional Campus of the UT School of Public Health.

e-CHUG, which stands for “electronic Check-Up to Go,” is managed by the San Diego State University Research Foundation. The programme is customised and individually site-licenced to more than 300 college campuses in 42 states.

“It's really remarkable when you think about it. A programme that takes less than 10 minutes and involves no face-to-face contact can influence drinking patterns over the length of a college semester,” said Walters.

Some of the Texas schools that offer e-CHUG include: The University of Texas institutions at Austin, Dallas and San Antonio; Texas A&M University; Baylor University; Southern Methodist University; Texas Lutheran University; the University of North Texas; and Trinity University.

Walters, S. T., Vader, A. M., & Harris, T. R. (2007). A Controlled Trial of Web-based Feedback for Heavy Drinking College Students. Prevention Science. Vol 8(1), pp. 83-88.

Scott Walters is also the co-author of Talking with College Students About Alcohol: Motivational Strategies for Reducing Abuse, (Guilford Press, 2006).