Playing drinking games can be characterized as a high-risk drinking activity because games are ty... more Playing drinking games can be characterized as a high-risk drinking activity because games are typically designed to promote heavy alcohol consumption. While research suggests that young adults are motivated to play drinking games for a variety of reasons (e.g., for thrills/fun, for the competition), the Motives for Playing Drinking Games measure has received limited empirical attention. We examined the psychometric properties of this measure with a confirmation sample of young adults recruited from Amazon's MTurk ( N = 1,809, ages 18-25 years, 47% men; 41% not currently enrolled in college) and a validation sample of college students ( N = 671; ages 18-23 years; 26% men). Contrary to the 8-factor model obtained by Johnson and Sheets in a study published in 2004, examination of the factor structure with our confirmation sample yielded a revised 7-factor model that was invariant across race/ethnicity and college student status. This model was also validated with the college stude...
Concurrent use of marijuana and alcohol among college students is highly prevalent and associated... more Concurrent use of marijuana and alcohol among college students is highly prevalent and associated with negative consequences. It remains unclear whether marijuana use is influenced by or lessens the efficacy of alcohol interventions delivered within a stepped-care approach. Participants were 530 college students who violated campus alcohol policy and were mandated to an alcohol-focused brief advice (BA) session. Participants who reported continued risky alcohol use (4+ heavy drinking episodes and/or 5+ alcohol-related consequences in the past month) six weeks following the BA session were randomized to a brief motivational intervention (BMI; n=211) or assessment only (AO; n=194) condition. Follow-up assessments were conducted 3, 6, and 9months' post-intervention. Multiple regression analyses revealed that marijuana user status did not influence drinking outcomes following the BA session. However, hierarchical linear models suggested that marijuana users who were randomized to BM...
Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 2016
Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), the 2 mos... more Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), the 2 most prevalent mental health disorders in the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, are at increased risk for cannabis use and problems including cannabis use disorder (CUD). The present study examined the relationship of PTSD and MDD with cannabis use frequency, cannabis problems, and CUD as well as the role of 3 coping-oriented cannabis use motives (coping with negative affect, situational anxiety, and sleep) that might underlie this relationship. Participants were veterans (N = 301) deployed post-9/11/2001 recruited from a Veterans Health Administration facility in the Northeast United States based on self-reported lifetime cannabis use. There were strong unique associations between PTSD and MDD and cannabis use frequency, cannabis problems, and CUD. Mediation analyses revealed the 3 motives accounted, in part, for the relationship between PTSD and MDD with 3 outcomes in all cases but for PTSD ...
Many returning OIF/OEF/OND Veterans are seeking higher education in an effort to develop a meanin... more Many returning OIF/OEF/OND Veterans are seeking higher education in an effort to develop a meaningful career and financial stability. Evidence suggests that student service members/veterans (SSM/Vs) are experiencing less academic success than other students. The purpose of this review is to identify the unique challenges of SSM/Vs and evaluate current campus efforts to facilitate their retention and academic performance. With a focus on SSM/Vs attending colleges and universities, we obtained 57 peer-reviewed and 73 gray literature records published between 2001 and 2015. The current SSM/V literature contains an abundance of gray literature, and the empirical research tends to be limited by cross-sectional design and small sample sizes. SSM/Vs encounter significant personal and environmental challenges when transitioning from the military to college campuses. A variety of services have been developed to address the needs of the SSM/V population, but the efficacy of these services rem...
Military service members have an increased risk of developing mental health (MH) problems followi... more Military service members have an increased risk of developing mental health (MH) problems following deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, yet only a small percentage seek mental health treatment. The aim of the present study was to explore patterns of MH service utilization within the first 12 months following return from combat deployment. Participants were 169 service members who had returned from war-zone deployment in either Iraq or Afghanistan and had assessments covering a 12-month period following their homecoming. The authors first examined the prevalence of mental health diagnoses and engagement with mental health treatment (e.g., visits to the emergency room, inpatient hospitalization, individual therapy, group therapy, family or couple therapy, medication appointments, and self-help). Regression analyses explored whether distress, functioning, diagnoses, or social support predicted treatment use. Findings indicated that 28 of 50 military service members (56%) who met diagnos...
Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, Feb 12, 2016
College students frequently engage in drinking games (DGs) and experience a variety of consequenc... more College students frequently engage in drinking games (DGs) and experience a variety of consequences as a result. It is currently unknown whether brief motivational interventions (BMIs) that provide feedback on DG participation can reduce this high risk behavior. This study examined outcome data from 2 randomized clinical trials to examine whether BMIs facilitate change in DG frequency and how these changes may occur. Mandated college students (Trial 1, N = 198, 46% female; Trial 2, N = 412; 32% female) were randomized to BMI or comparison control conditions. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to compare the BMI and comparison groups to determine whether the BMI reduced DG participation over time. Percent change talk (PCT) during the discussion of DG during the session was examined as a predictor of change in DG frequency, and gender was examined as a moderator of treatment effects. Controlling for regular drinking frequency, participants who received a BMI did not significa...
Independent lines of research have documented links between psychiatric symptoms and poor sleep q... more Independent lines of research have documented links between psychiatric symptoms and poor sleep quality, psychiatric symptoms and alcohol use, and alcohol use and poor sleep quality. The current study examined the synergistic effect of poor sleep quality and psychiatric symptoms on alcohol-related consequences in heavy-drinking young adults. Matriculating college students reporting at least one heavy drinking episode over the first nine weeks of the semester (N=385, 52% female) were categorized as experiencing 'good' (n=280) versus 'poor' sleep quality (n=105) and screening 'positive' (n=203) or 'negative' (n=182) for a psychiatric disorder. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; psychiatric diagnosis was assessed using the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire; and alcohol-related consequences were assessed using the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire. General linear models were used to examine...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 07448480309596343, Mar 24, 2010
Drinking games are associated with excess alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, yet it is unc... more Drinking games are associated with excess alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, yet it is unclear whether they are unique to the college environment or whether students come to college familiar with such games. The authors queried 1,252 students attending voluntary summer orientation programs about their experiences with drinking games. A majority (63%) indicated they had played drinking games and viewed them as a means to get drunk quickly and to socialize, control others, or get someone else drunk. Logistic regression analyses revealed that familiarity with drinking situations was associated with a greater likelihood of playing drinking games. Students who reported drinking more frequently and consuming greater quantities of alcohol than others, having lifetime marijuana use, and initiating alcohol consumption between the ages of 14 and 16 years were significantly more likely to have participated in drinking games. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering students' participation in drinking games when campus officials address alcohol use.
Although major depressive disorder (MDD) and heavy episodic drinking (HED, 4+/5+ drinks in a sing... more Although major depressive disorder (MDD) and heavy episodic drinking (HED, 4+/5+ drinks in a single sitting for women/men) are common among young adults in college, the relationship between the two remains unclear. This study examined the association between MDD and HED in this population, the effect of gender on this association, and whether comorbid MDD and heavy alcohol use are associated with higher rates of mental health treatment engagement. The study comprised 61,561 (65.3% female) undergraduate students who answered an online survey on depression, alcohol use, and treatment engagement in the past year. Hierarchical linear regressions examined the association between MDD and alcohol use (HED and peak blood alcohol concentration [pBAC]) and whether gender moderated these associations. Logistic regressions were then conducted to examine the influence of MDD, heavy alcohol use, and gender on treatment engagement. Students with MDD reported more frequent HED and higher pBAC than ...
Pregaming is a common phenomenon among college students and is associated with increased risks su... more Pregaming is a common phenomenon among college students and is associated with increased risks such as heavy drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and violating campus alcohol policies. However, the mechanism by which pregaming increases student risk is unclear. The current study aimed to delineate the role of personal endorsement of pregaming, duration of an entire drinking episode on the night of an alcohol violation, and movement from one location to another in predicting alcohol use and violation-related cognitions. Participants (N = 113) were college students who had received an alcohol violation. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to investigate the predictive value of pregaming endorsement, duration of drinking, and movement on drinking behaviors [number of drinks consumed and estimated blood alcohol content (eBAC)] on the night of the alcohol violation as well as violation-related cognitions (responsibility, aversiveness). Pregaming and duration of drinking w...
Heavy episodic drinking is a relatively common phenomenon among college students, and students wh... more Heavy episodic drinking is a relatively common phenomenon among college students, and students who engage in binge drinking are at increased risk for a variety of adverse consequences. This paper investigates relationships between substance use and reinforcement derived from specific categories of substance-free activities among a sample of 256 college undergraduates. Data from a standardized behavioral inventory were used to compare the frequency, pleasure, and reinforcement potential of substance-free events and activities experienced by binge drinkers and a comparison group. Binge drinkers reported significantly lower scores across a variety of substance-free activity categories and, in the majority of the cases, the relationship between binge drinking and decreased reinforcement density remained significant after accounting for the effects of the use of other drugs and demographic variables. These results are consistent with a growing body of evidence linking substance use to deprivation of substance-free reinforcement.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Jul 1, 2008
ObjectiveThe Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ; Kahler et al., 2005) ... more ObjectiveThe Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ; Kahler et al., 2005) was developed using item response modeling to provide a brief and readily interpretable measure of negative alcohol consequences over the past year among college students. The purpose of the present study was to extend evaluation of the B-YAACQ by examining its psychometric properties when administered to college students cited for a university alcohol violation using a past 30-day timeframe of assessment.MethodThe B-YAACQ was administered at baseline and at a 6-week follow-up to 291 students cited for a university alcohol violation. Reliability and validity analyses, in addition to Rasch model (Rasch, 1960) analyses, were conducted using these data.ResultsResults demonstrated that the B-YAACQ was internally consistent, showed strong unidimensionality and additive properties, showed minimal item redundancy and minimal floor or ceiling effects, was reliable over a 6-week time period, and was sensitive to change in drinking following an alcohol intervention. In addition, the relative severity of items was preserved over time and generally consistent with results from Kahler et al. (2005).ConclusionsThe 30-day B-YAACQ appears valid for use with college students who have received an alcohol violation and for evaluating changes in alcohol consequences.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Jun 1, 2010
Using a randomized factorial design, we examined the efficacy of a brief motivational interventio... more Using a randomized factorial design, we examined the efficacy of a brief motivational intervention (BMI) and a parent-based intervention (PBI) as universal preventive interventions to reduce alcohol use among incoming college students. Participants (N = 1,014) were assessed prior to matriculation and at 10 months and 22 months postbaseline. Two-part latent growth modeling was used to simultaneously examine initiation and growth in heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related consequences. This study retained 90.8% (n = 921) of randomized students at the 10-month follow-up and 84.0% (n = 852) of randomized students at the 22-month follow-up. BMI participants were significantly less likely than non-BMI participants to initiate heavy episodic drinking and to begin experiencing alcohol-related consequences. Effect sizes were minimal at 10 months (Cohen's h ranged from 0.02 to 0.07) and were small at 22 months (hs ranged from 0.15 to 0.22). A significant BMI x PBI interaction revealed that students receiving both the BMI and the PBI were significantly less likely to report the onset of consequences beyond the sum of the individual intervention effects (h = 0.08 at 10 months, and h = 0.21 at 22 months). Hypothesized direct BMI effects for reductions in heavy episodic drinking and consequences were not observed. Significant mediated effects via changes in descriptive norms were present for both growth and initiation of heavy episodic drinking and consequences. To our knowledge, the current study is the first to provide support for BMI as a universal preventive intervention for incoming college students. Although hypothesized PBI main effects were not found, mediation analyses suggest future refinements could enhance PBI effectiveness.
To examine whether differences exist in self-reported sleep patterns and self-reported alcohol us... more To examine whether differences exist in self-reported sleep patterns and self-reported alcohol use for first-semester college students who do or do not report drinking during the last 6 mo of high school. Participants were 878 first-year college students. Students completed a survey in late May/early June about alcohol use and consequences, during the last 6 mo of high school; they later completed a daily record of sleep behavior and alcohol use across the first 9 w of the first semester of college. High school drinking status (past 6 mo) was classified as positive (HS-6mo+) or negative (HS-6mo-) based on any indication of drinking on the May/June survey. Collegiate drinking was determined from first-semester daily diary alcohol reports as nondrinkers (0 reported drinks), drinkers (one or fewer heavy episodic drinking episodes (HED)), and drinkers reporting more than one HED episode. Sleep patterns were compared for nondrinkers, drinkers, and HED with no high school drinking history...
Playing drinking games can be characterized as a high-risk drinking activity because games are ty... more Playing drinking games can be characterized as a high-risk drinking activity because games are typically designed to promote heavy alcohol consumption. While research suggests that young adults are motivated to play drinking games for a variety of reasons (e.g., for thrills/fun, for the competition), the Motives for Playing Drinking Games measure has received limited empirical attention. We examined the psychometric properties of this measure with a confirmation sample of young adults recruited from Amazon's MTurk ( N = 1,809, ages 18-25 years, 47% men; 41% not currently enrolled in college) and a validation sample of college students ( N = 671; ages 18-23 years; 26% men). Contrary to the 8-factor model obtained by Johnson and Sheets in a study published in 2004, examination of the factor structure with our confirmation sample yielded a revised 7-factor model that was invariant across race/ethnicity and college student status. This model was also validated with the college stude...
Concurrent use of marijuana and alcohol among college students is highly prevalent and associated... more Concurrent use of marijuana and alcohol among college students is highly prevalent and associated with negative consequences. It remains unclear whether marijuana use is influenced by or lessens the efficacy of alcohol interventions delivered within a stepped-care approach. Participants were 530 college students who violated campus alcohol policy and were mandated to an alcohol-focused brief advice (BA) session. Participants who reported continued risky alcohol use (4+ heavy drinking episodes and/or 5+ alcohol-related consequences in the past month) six weeks following the BA session were randomized to a brief motivational intervention (BMI; n=211) or assessment only (AO; n=194) condition. Follow-up assessments were conducted 3, 6, and 9months' post-intervention. Multiple regression analyses revealed that marijuana user status did not influence drinking outcomes following the BA session. However, hierarchical linear models suggested that marijuana users who were randomized to BM...
Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 2016
Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), the 2 mos... more Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), the 2 most prevalent mental health disorders in the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, are at increased risk for cannabis use and problems including cannabis use disorder (CUD). The present study examined the relationship of PTSD and MDD with cannabis use frequency, cannabis problems, and CUD as well as the role of 3 coping-oriented cannabis use motives (coping with negative affect, situational anxiety, and sleep) that might underlie this relationship. Participants were veterans (N = 301) deployed post-9/11/2001 recruited from a Veterans Health Administration facility in the Northeast United States based on self-reported lifetime cannabis use. There were strong unique associations between PTSD and MDD and cannabis use frequency, cannabis problems, and CUD. Mediation analyses revealed the 3 motives accounted, in part, for the relationship between PTSD and MDD with 3 outcomes in all cases but for PTSD ...
Many returning OIF/OEF/OND Veterans are seeking higher education in an effort to develop a meanin... more Many returning OIF/OEF/OND Veterans are seeking higher education in an effort to develop a meaningful career and financial stability. Evidence suggests that student service members/veterans (SSM/Vs) are experiencing less academic success than other students. The purpose of this review is to identify the unique challenges of SSM/Vs and evaluate current campus efforts to facilitate their retention and academic performance. With a focus on SSM/Vs attending colleges and universities, we obtained 57 peer-reviewed and 73 gray literature records published between 2001 and 2015. The current SSM/V literature contains an abundance of gray literature, and the empirical research tends to be limited by cross-sectional design and small sample sizes. SSM/Vs encounter significant personal and environmental challenges when transitioning from the military to college campuses. A variety of services have been developed to address the needs of the SSM/V population, but the efficacy of these services rem...
Military service members have an increased risk of developing mental health (MH) problems followi... more Military service members have an increased risk of developing mental health (MH) problems following deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, yet only a small percentage seek mental health treatment. The aim of the present study was to explore patterns of MH service utilization within the first 12 months following return from combat deployment. Participants were 169 service members who had returned from war-zone deployment in either Iraq or Afghanistan and had assessments covering a 12-month period following their homecoming. The authors first examined the prevalence of mental health diagnoses and engagement with mental health treatment (e.g., visits to the emergency room, inpatient hospitalization, individual therapy, group therapy, family or couple therapy, medication appointments, and self-help). Regression analyses explored whether distress, functioning, diagnoses, or social support predicted treatment use. Findings indicated that 28 of 50 military service members (56%) who met diagnos...
Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, Feb 12, 2016
College students frequently engage in drinking games (DGs) and experience a variety of consequenc... more College students frequently engage in drinking games (DGs) and experience a variety of consequences as a result. It is currently unknown whether brief motivational interventions (BMIs) that provide feedback on DG participation can reduce this high risk behavior. This study examined outcome data from 2 randomized clinical trials to examine whether BMIs facilitate change in DG frequency and how these changes may occur. Mandated college students (Trial 1, N = 198, 46% female; Trial 2, N = 412; 32% female) were randomized to BMI or comparison control conditions. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to compare the BMI and comparison groups to determine whether the BMI reduced DG participation over time. Percent change talk (PCT) during the discussion of DG during the session was examined as a predictor of change in DG frequency, and gender was examined as a moderator of treatment effects. Controlling for regular drinking frequency, participants who received a BMI did not significa...
Independent lines of research have documented links between psychiatric symptoms and poor sleep q... more Independent lines of research have documented links between psychiatric symptoms and poor sleep quality, psychiatric symptoms and alcohol use, and alcohol use and poor sleep quality. The current study examined the synergistic effect of poor sleep quality and psychiatric symptoms on alcohol-related consequences in heavy-drinking young adults. Matriculating college students reporting at least one heavy drinking episode over the first nine weeks of the semester (N=385, 52% female) were categorized as experiencing 'good' (n=280) versus 'poor' sleep quality (n=105) and screening 'positive' (n=203) or 'negative' (n=182) for a psychiatric disorder. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; psychiatric diagnosis was assessed using the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire; and alcohol-related consequences were assessed using the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire. General linear models were used to examine...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 07448480309596343, Mar 24, 2010
Drinking games are associated with excess alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, yet it is unc... more Drinking games are associated with excess alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, yet it is unclear whether they are unique to the college environment or whether students come to college familiar with such games. The authors queried 1,252 students attending voluntary summer orientation programs about their experiences with drinking games. A majority (63%) indicated they had played drinking games and viewed them as a means to get drunk quickly and to socialize, control others, or get someone else drunk. Logistic regression analyses revealed that familiarity with drinking situations was associated with a greater likelihood of playing drinking games. Students who reported drinking more frequently and consuming greater quantities of alcohol than others, having lifetime marijuana use, and initiating alcohol consumption between the ages of 14 and 16 years were significantly more likely to have participated in drinking games. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering students' participation in drinking games when campus officials address alcohol use.
Although major depressive disorder (MDD) and heavy episodic drinking (HED, 4+/5+ drinks in a sing... more Although major depressive disorder (MDD) and heavy episodic drinking (HED, 4+/5+ drinks in a single sitting for women/men) are common among young adults in college, the relationship between the two remains unclear. This study examined the association between MDD and HED in this population, the effect of gender on this association, and whether comorbid MDD and heavy alcohol use are associated with higher rates of mental health treatment engagement. The study comprised 61,561 (65.3% female) undergraduate students who answered an online survey on depression, alcohol use, and treatment engagement in the past year. Hierarchical linear regressions examined the association between MDD and alcohol use (HED and peak blood alcohol concentration [pBAC]) and whether gender moderated these associations. Logistic regressions were then conducted to examine the influence of MDD, heavy alcohol use, and gender on treatment engagement. Students with MDD reported more frequent HED and higher pBAC than ...
Pregaming is a common phenomenon among college students and is associated with increased risks su... more Pregaming is a common phenomenon among college students and is associated with increased risks such as heavy drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and violating campus alcohol policies. However, the mechanism by which pregaming increases student risk is unclear. The current study aimed to delineate the role of personal endorsement of pregaming, duration of an entire drinking episode on the night of an alcohol violation, and movement from one location to another in predicting alcohol use and violation-related cognitions. Participants (N = 113) were college students who had received an alcohol violation. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to investigate the predictive value of pregaming endorsement, duration of drinking, and movement on drinking behaviors [number of drinks consumed and estimated blood alcohol content (eBAC)] on the night of the alcohol violation as well as violation-related cognitions (responsibility, aversiveness). Pregaming and duration of drinking w...
Heavy episodic drinking is a relatively common phenomenon among college students, and students wh... more Heavy episodic drinking is a relatively common phenomenon among college students, and students who engage in binge drinking are at increased risk for a variety of adverse consequences. This paper investigates relationships between substance use and reinforcement derived from specific categories of substance-free activities among a sample of 256 college undergraduates. Data from a standardized behavioral inventory were used to compare the frequency, pleasure, and reinforcement potential of substance-free events and activities experienced by binge drinkers and a comparison group. Binge drinkers reported significantly lower scores across a variety of substance-free activity categories and, in the majority of the cases, the relationship between binge drinking and decreased reinforcement density remained significant after accounting for the effects of the use of other drugs and demographic variables. These results are consistent with a growing body of evidence linking substance use to deprivation of substance-free reinforcement.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Jul 1, 2008
ObjectiveThe Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ; Kahler et al., 2005) ... more ObjectiveThe Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ; Kahler et al., 2005) was developed using item response modeling to provide a brief and readily interpretable measure of negative alcohol consequences over the past year among college students. The purpose of the present study was to extend evaluation of the B-YAACQ by examining its psychometric properties when administered to college students cited for a university alcohol violation using a past 30-day timeframe of assessment.MethodThe B-YAACQ was administered at baseline and at a 6-week follow-up to 291 students cited for a university alcohol violation. Reliability and validity analyses, in addition to Rasch model (Rasch, 1960) analyses, were conducted using these data.ResultsResults demonstrated that the B-YAACQ was internally consistent, showed strong unidimensionality and additive properties, showed minimal item redundancy and minimal floor or ceiling effects, was reliable over a 6-week time period, and was sensitive to change in drinking following an alcohol intervention. In addition, the relative severity of items was preserved over time and generally consistent with results from Kahler et al. (2005).ConclusionsThe 30-day B-YAACQ appears valid for use with college students who have received an alcohol violation and for evaluating changes in alcohol consequences.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Jun 1, 2010
Using a randomized factorial design, we examined the efficacy of a brief motivational interventio... more Using a randomized factorial design, we examined the efficacy of a brief motivational intervention (BMI) and a parent-based intervention (PBI) as universal preventive interventions to reduce alcohol use among incoming college students. Participants (N = 1,014) were assessed prior to matriculation and at 10 months and 22 months postbaseline. Two-part latent growth modeling was used to simultaneously examine initiation and growth in heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related consequences. This study retained 90.8% (n = 921) of randomized students at the 10-month follow-up and 84.0% (n = 852) of randomized students at the 22-month follow-up. BMI participants were significantly less likely than non-BMI participants to initiate heavy episodic drinking and to begin experiencing alcohol-related consequences. Effect sizes were minimal at 10 months (Cohen's h ranged from 0.02 to 0.07) and were small at 22 months (hs ranged from 0.15 to 0.22). A significant BMI x PBI interaction revealed that students receiving both the BMI and the PBI were significantly less likely to report the onset of consequences beyond the sum of the individual intervention effects (h = 0.08 at 10 months, and h = 0.21 at 22 months). Hypothesized direct BMI effects for reductions in heavy episodic drinking and consequences were not observed. Significant mediated effects via changes in descriptive norms were present for both growth and initiation of heavy episodic drinking and consequences. To our knowledge, the current study is the first to provide support for BMI as a universal preventive intervention for incoming college students. Although hypothesized PBI main effects were not found, mediation analyses suggest future refinements could enhance PBI effectiveness.
To examine whether differences exist in self-reported sleep patterns and self-reported alcohol us... more To examine whether differences exist in self-reported sleep patterns and self-reported alcohol use for first-semester college students who do or do not report drinking during the last 6 mo of high school. Participants were 878 first-year college students. Students completed a survey in late May/early June about alcohol use and consequences, during the last 6 mo of high school; they later completed a daily record of sleep behavior and alcohol use across the first 9 w of the first semester of college. High school drinking status (past 6 mo) was classified as positive (HS-6mo+) or negative (HS-6mo-) based on any indication of drinking on the May/June survey. Collegiate drinking was determined from first-semester daily diary alcohol reports as nondrinkers (0 reported drinks), drinkers (one or fewer heavy episodic drinking episodes (HED)), and drinkers reporting more than one HED episode. Sleep patterns were compared for nondrinkers, drinkers, and HED with no high school drinking history...
Uploads
Papers by Brian Borsari