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Do the Effects of Parent-Based Alcohol Interventions Depend on College Residence? A Short Communication
Abstract
Parent-based interventions (PBIs) and living at home with one’s parents both have been shown to mitigate alcohol risk associated with the first year of college. The current study extends these findings by examining the independent and interactive effects of these two constructs on first-year drinking. The sample included 82 parent-student dyads. Parents were randomized to receive an online PBI that either did (intervention; n=44) or did not (n=38) include alcohol-related content in December 2020. Students completed online surveys assessing college residence and drinking (typical weekly and peak) in August 2020 (T1) and February 2021 (T2). Hierarchical zero-inflated Poisson models assessed the main and interaction effects of having a parent in the intervention group (vs. control) and living with parents (vs. without) on drinking outcomes, controlling for T1 alcohol use. Results revealed that living with parents predicted decreases in typical weekly drinking and having a parent in the intervention predicted decreases in the number of drinks consumed on one’s peak drinking occasion at T2. Treatment*residence was also significantly associated with typical weekly drinking in the inflated model. These results suggest that moving out was associated with a greater likelihood of not drinking during a typical week if students had a parent in the intervention and a lower likelihood of not drinking during a typical week if they had parent in the control application. Together, findings support continued exploration of this online PBI as it appears to reduce peak drinking during the first year of college and reduces the odds of students drinking during a typical week when they move out of their parents’ home.
... One promising strategy for enhancing parental motivation to engage with PBI materials is to augment Handbook content on parenting and communication with social norms theory-based normative feedback. 24,[34][35][36][37] Social norms are beliefs about whether other individuals perform and/or approve of a given behavior. 38 Previous research suggests that parents can be influenced by normative perceptions about drinking in college. ...
... To address this, an online version of the FITSTART program (FITSTART+) was developed and pilot tested with a small sample of first-year students during the COVID-19 pandemic. 36 The FITSTART+ PBI is a web-application that delivers a PNF quiz like the one in the in-person FITSTART intervention 24 alongside readings and videos of content adapted from the Parent Handbook and the FITSTART presentation (e.g., facts about alcohol-related risk during college; how to improve parent-student communication with respect to alcohol use), and other general parenting advice designed to help parents effectively aid their student's transition into college. The control condition in that study was the intervention web-application stripped of all alcohol-specific content (FITSTART+ Control) (see the Materials and Method section for a full description of the FITSTART+ PBI/Control). ...
... 46 Results also revealed that students with parents randomized to FITSTART+ PBI decreased their peak number of drinks consumed in the past month relative to students with parents randomized to FITSTART+ Control. 36 Further, students who moved out of their parents' home and who had a parent in the intervention application were found to have a greater likelihood of not drinking during a typical week than students in the control condition who moved out of their parents' home. ...
Objective: This study evaluated FITSTART+, a parent-based intervention (PBI), for preventing risky drinking among first-year college students. Participants: Participants were traditional first-year students aged between 17 and 20. Method: In total, 391 eligible students completed a baseline survey and their parents were then invited to use the FITSTART+ PBI or Control web-applications. 266 students had a parent who created a profile in the app (FITSTART+ PBI, n = 134; FITSTART+ Control, n = 132). Additionally, 58 parents randomized to the FITSTART+ PBI did not complete the personalized normative feedback (PNF) component of the intervention. Results: No significant effect on drinking or related consequences was detected between Intervention and Control groups. However, exploratory analyses revealed that completing PNF in the FITSTART+ PBI condition was associated with a greater likelihood of remaining zero on consequences at follow-ups. Conclusion: The PNF component of the FITSTART+ PBI showed potential in preventing risky drinking, warranting further research.
... However, questions remain unanswered regarding the distinct influences of different modes of communication, such as phone conversations and text messaging, on alcohol use during the crucial transition to college. Addressing this gap in the literature will inform parent-based interventions (PBIs)-which typically target parents of incoming college students who are moving away from home (e.g., LaBrie et al., 2022;Turrisi et al., 2013)-about whether one or both modes of communication are equally as effective at preventing/reducing alcohol use and related risk after matriculation. ...
... Participants took part in an online longitudinal survey study evaluating the FITSTART+ PBI (see LaBrie et al., 2022, for a description of FITSTART+). As described in Trager et al. (2023), incoming first-year students were invited to complete a baseline pre-matriculation survey in July 2021 (T0) via an email invitation sent out by the university's registrar (N = 391 completed the survey). ...
... Our findings show that fathers' phone call and text message communication can play an important role in preventing students' alcohol use and consequences, thus highlighting the need to address the challenge of recruiting fathers into PBIs (Donovan et al., 2012;Ichiyama et al., 2009;LaBrie et al., 2022). To effectively leverage the influence of fathers in mitigating alcohol-related consequences, it is essential to develop strategies that encourage their active involvement. ...
Objective:
We examined (a) whether changes in parent-student phone call and text messaging communication during the transition into college are associated with alcohol use and related consequences, and (b) whether pre-matriculation drinking patterns predicted these changes in parent-student communication.
Method:
First-year students (N=246; Mage=17.91, SDage=0.39; 61.8% female) participated in a longitudinal survey study as a part of a larger study. Prior to matriculation (T0), participants reported their drinking and whether they experienced alcohol consequences in the past 30 days. Approximately one month into their first semester (T1), participants reported if the frequency of their calling and texting their parents had decreased, remained the same, or increased since the start of college. Drinking and consequences were then reassessed four months later (T2). Analytic models evaluated (a) whether a decrease in calling and texting parents, as reported by students (compared to an increase or no change), predicted drinking outcomes, and (b) whether pre-college drinking (compared to non-drinking) predicted changes in communication.
Results:
Changes in phone calls and texting with mothers and fathers during the first month of college predicted alcohol use and consequences into the second semester. Additionally, heavy drinking predicted lower odds of texting frequency with mothers staying the same or increasing.
Conclusion:
This study underscores that consistent call or text communication with students upon their transition into college could serve as a protective factor against alcohol risk. By closely monitoring such communication, parents may be better equipped to identify potential signs of risky drinking behavior in their first-year students.
... The current study conducted a process evaluation and investigation of cultural adaptations of FITSTART+. FITSTART+ is a free, online, web-app-based college drinking PBI designed for U.S. parents of incoming college students (LaBrie et al., 2022(LaBrie et al., , 2024. This intervention is innovative in two ways: (1) it is delivered online via a web-app, and (2) it incorporates personalized normative feedback (PNF) in the form of a parenting and alcohol quiz that is designed to motivate parents to engage with intervention content and implement risk-reducing behaviors such as disapproval toward underage drinking. ...
... This approach is considered a best practice when developing intervention content to ensure it is relevant and appropriate to the target population (LaMonica et al., 2022;Noorbergen et al., 2021;Perski & Short, 2021;Yardley et al., 2015). FITSTART+ has been given to two cohorts of parents and shown to be effective in the prevention of problematic alcohol consumption among first-year college students in the U.S. (LaBrie et al., 2022(LaBrie et al., , 2024. FITSTART+ is accessible via any device with an Internet connection (i.e., smartphone, tablet, or laptop/desktop computer). ...
Most alcohol intervention research focuses on program efficacy, yet few studies have investigated the acceptability of a program’s design and implementation to the target population or adapting existing alcohol interventions to different populations. To address these gaps in the literature, we (1) examined participant responsiveness to and implementation quality of FITSTART+, a web-app delivered parent-based alcohol intervention designed for incoming first-year college students in the United States, and (2) gathered feedback on how this intervention could be adapted to other populations of parents. A sample of U.S. parents of 17–20-year-old first-year college students (N = 109) participated in FITSTART+ during their child’s first year of college and completed a survey about parents’ responsiveness to the app and its quality. Next, a sample of non-U.S. parents of adolescents aged 13 to 19 (N = 44) participated in one of 11 focus groups in which they briefly explored the app and then discussed how it could be adapted to be applicable and culturally relevant for them and their context. Results revealed that U.S. parents rated the intervention’s quality as high and parents were responsive to the web-app’s content, but some did not visit one of the most critical aspects of the intervention (i.e., alcohol-related parenting resources). Non-U.S. participants provided a range of suggestions for adapting the intervention to their context, which varied by culture. Results identify areas for improvement, particularly regarding the use of alcohol-related parenting resources, in this intervention and for web-delivered PBIs more broadly.
... This study builds upon the existing body of research surrounding the FITSTART+ PBI by shedding light on its potential to prevent simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use during the first year of college. While prior studies have provided initial support for the program as a strategy to prevent heavy drinking (LaBrie et al., 2022(LaBrie et al., , 2024, the current findings suggest an extension of these benefits to reducing concurrent substance use. However, the intervention does not appear to predict changes in parent-student communication through text or phone. ...
Parent communication can be protective against cannabis use among young adults. However, changes in parent-student communication frequency naturally occur during the transition from high school to college. Recent research suggests declines in parent-student communication frequency predict increased drinking and consequences during the first year of college, yet these effects on other risky behaviors are unknown. The current study investigated whether post-matriculation changes in frequency of texting/calling with parents predict cannabis use and simultaneous use of cannabis and alcohol, and whether pre-matriculation cannabis and simultaneous use predict changes in communication. First-year students (N = 287, 61.3% female, 50.9% White) reported cannabis and simultaneous use pre-and post-matriculation (T1 & T3) and changes in frequency of texting/calling their mother/father per day (T2). Negative binomial hurdle models examined whether T2 changes in communication frequency predicted T3 cannabis and simultaneous use, and logistic regression models examined whether T1 cannabis and simultaneous use predicted T2 changes in communication frequency. Results revealed that increasing (vs. decreasing) frequency of calling with mothers and texting with fathers was protective against cannabis use, whereas increasing frequency of calling with fathers was associated with greater risk of use. Changes in communication did not significantly predict simultaneous use, nor did pre-matriculation cannabis or simultaneous use predict changes in either mode of communication with parents during the college transition. These findings highlight that changes in mother and father communication may be both beneficial and detrimental to cannabis use depending on the parent and mode of communication. Implications for these findings are discussed.
... Further, targeting taking alcohol from the home and obtaining it from friends might also produce secondary effects on marijuana use. Most PBIs include components geared toward improving parent-child communication, reducing parental permissiveness toward underage drinking, teaching children how to resist peer pressure (e.g., Koning et al., 2014;LaBrie et al., 2022;Turrisi et al., 2013), and improving monitoring behaviors related to their child's whereabouts and alcohol use (e.g., Wood et al., 2010). However, to our knowledge there are no PBIs that include content specifically designed to address taking alcohol from the home without parents' permission or preventing/reducing access to alcohol from friends or at parties (see Kuntsche & Kuntsche, 2016 for a review of PBIs for preventing adolescent substance use). ...
While adolescents and underage emerging adults typically obtain alcohol from social sources (e.g., parents, friends, parties), taking alcohol from the home without permission is not well understood. The current study investigated plausible individual characteristics associated with taking alcohol from one’s parents’ home without permission and associations between taking alcohol and drinking, alcohol consequences, and marijuana use. Two cohorts of alcohol-experienced underage emerging adults (N=562) completed a web-based survey pre-college matriculation. Participants reported sources of alcohol (friend, mother, father, party, took it from home); drinking; consequences; marijuana use (ever and past 30 days); age of alcohol initiation; symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress; parental modeling of drinking; and demographic information. Results revealed that taking alcohol was significantly associated with several of the measures examined here (e.g., having obtained alcohol from friends, parents, and parties; earlier age of alcohol initiation; parental modeling of alcohol). Having taken alcohol from the home without permission and obtained it from friends were uniquely associated with increased odds of typical weekly drinking, consequences, and marijuana use in the past 30 days when controlling for all other variables assessed in this study (including drinking, in the consequences and marijuana models). Parent-based interventions targeting adolescents and emerging adults should inform parents of the risks associated with taking alcohol from the home and obtaining it from friends. Further, parents should also be informed that supplying their adolescent with alcohol or modeling drinking may increase the likelihood that they take alcohol from their home.
Background: The purpose of this study was to address a dearth in the literature on non-response bias in parent-based interventions (PBIs) by investigating parenting constructs that might be associated with whether a parent volunteers to participate in a no-incentive college drinking PBI. Method: Incoming first-year students (N = 386) completed an online questionnaire that included items assessing plausible predictors of participation in a PBI (students' drinking, perceptions of parents' harm-reduction and zero-tolerance alcohol communication, whether parents allowed alcohol, and changes in parents' alcohol rules). Four months later, all parents of first-year students at the study university were invited to join the PBI, which was described as a resource guide to teach them how to help their student navigate the college transition and prepare them for life at their university. Results: Parents who signed up for the intervention used greater harm-reduction communication than those who did not sign up, were more likely to have allowed alcohol use, and signing up was significantly associated with student reports that fathers became less strict toward drinking after high school. Students' drinking and zero-tolerance communication did not significantly differ between the groups. Conclusion: Results indicate that non-response bias can be an issue when utilizing a real-world, non-RCT recruitment approach to invite parents into a PBI (i.e., non-incentivized, inviting all parents). Findings suggest that more comprehensive recruitment strategies may be required to increase parent diversity in PBIs.
Objective: The present study meta-analyzed studies examining changes in alcohol consumption during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and systematically reviewed contextual and individual difference factors related to these changes. Method: Following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol, studies were gathered via PsycINFO, PubMed/MEDLINE, and preprint databases (published April 29, 2021) that examined individual-level changes in consumption during the initial COVID-19 mitigation measures (before October 2020). Next, sample proportion increases and decreases in consumption, in addition to mean change in consumption variables from pre- to during-COVID, were meta-analyzed, and contextual and individual difference variables related to consumption changes during the pandemic were summarized. Results: One hundred and twenty-eight studies provided data from 58 countries (M n = 3,876; Mdn n = 1,092; aggregate sample n = 492,235). The average mean change in alcohol consumption was nonsignificant (Cohen’s d = −0.01, p = .68); however, meta-analysis revealed that 23% of participants reported increases in consumption and 23% reported decreases. These changes were moderated by per capita gross domestic product and country. Narrative synthesis revealed multiple predictors of increased drinking, including contextual changes (e.g., children at home, income loss, working remotely), individual difference variables (being female, a young-to-middle aged adult, or Black), and mental health/alcohol-related risk factors (e.g., depression). Conclusions: The identified factors associated with increased alcohol consumption should be considered in planning behavioral health services during future crisis events that abruptly alter everyday environments in ways that increase stress and decrease access to naturally occurring rewards.
Background
In spring 2020, U.S. universities closed campuses to limit the transmission of COVID‐19, resulting in an abrupt change in residence, reductions in social interaction, and in many cases, movement away from a heavy drinking culture. The present mixed‐methods study explores COVID‐19‐related changes in college student drinking. We characterize concomitant changes in social and location drinking contexts and describe reasons attributed to changes in drinking.
Methods
We conducted two studies of the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on drinking behavior, drinking context, and reasons for both increases and decreases in consumption among college students. Study 1 (qualitative) included 18 heavy‐drinking college students (Mage = 20.2; 56% female) who completed semi‐structured interviews. Study 2 (quantitative) included 312 current and former college students who reported use of alcohol and cannabis (Mage = 21.3; 62% female) and who completed an online survey.
Results
In both studies, COVID‐19‐related increases in drinking frequency were accompanied by decreases in quantity, heavy drinking, and drunkenness. Yet, in Study 2, although heavier drinkers reduced their drinking, among non‐heavy drinkers several indices of consumption increased or remained stable . Both studies also provided evidence of reductions in social drinking with friends and roommates and at parties and increased drinking with family. Participants confirmed that their drinking decreased due to reduced social opportunities and/or settings, limited access to alcohol, and reasons related to health and self‐discipline. Increases were attributed to greater opportunity (more time) and boredom and to a lesser extent, lower perceived risk of harm and to cope with distress.
Conclusion
This study documents COVID‐19‐related changes in drinking among college student drinkers that were attributable to changes in context, particularly a shift away from heavy drinking with peers to lighter drinking with family. Given the continued threat of COVID‐19, it is imperative for researchers, administrators, and parents to understand these trends as they may have lasting effects on college student drinking behaviors.
This study examined the efficacy of a personalized normative feedback (PNF) alcohol intervention for parents of students transitioning into college. A sample of 399 parent–student dyads were recruited to take part in the intervention during the summer prior to matriculation. Parents were randomly assigned to receive either normative feedback regarding student drinking and other college parents’ alcohol-related communication or general college health norm information. Students completed measures of alcohol use, alcohol consequences, and parent–child alcohol-specific communication both 1 and 6 months after matriculation. The results indicated that in comparison with the control condition parents who received PNF reported immediate changes in their perceptions of other parents’ behaviors; however, these changes in parent perceived norms did not translate into long-term changes in student drinking behaviors or parent–child communication. Findings highlight the need to consider content beyond normative feedback for parent based alcohol intervention.
A randomized controlled trial tested an interactive normative feedback-based intervention—codenamed“FITSTART”—delivered to groups of 50–100 parents of matriculating college students. The 60-minsession motivated parents to alter their alcohol-related communication by correcting normative misperceptions
(e.g., about how approving other parents are of student drinking) with live-generated data. Then,tips were provided on discussing drinking effectively. Incoming students (N � 331; 62.2% female)completed baseline measures prior to new-student orientation. Next, at parent orientation in June, thesestudents’ parents were assigned to either FITSTART or a control session. Finally, 4 months later, students
completed a follow-up survey. Results revealed that students whose parents received FITSTART duringthe summer consumed less alcohol and were less likely to engage in heavy episodic drinking (HED)
during the first month of college. These effects were mediated by FITSTART students’ lower perceptionsof their parents’ approval of alcohol consumption. Further, FITSTART students who were not drinkersin high school were less likely to initiate drinking and to start experiencing negative consequences duringthe first month of college, where FITSTART students who had been drinkers in high school experiencedfewer consequences overall and were significantly more likely to report that they did not experience anyconsequences whatsoever during the first month of college. Importantly, FITSTART is the first parentbasedintervention to impact HED, one of the most well-studied indicators of risky drinking. Thus, interactive group normative feedback with parents is a promising approach for reducing college alcohol risk.
Keywords: parent-based intervention, alcohol, college, normative feedback
Objective:
The study evaluated the timing and dosage of a parent-based intervention to minimize alcohol consumption for students with varying drinking histories.
Method:
First-year students (N = 1,900) completed Web assessments during the summer before college (baseline) and two follow-ups (fall of first and second years). Students were randomized to one of four conditions (pre-college matriculation [PCM], pre-college matriculation plus boosters [PCM+B], after college matriculation [ACM], and control conditions). Seven indicators of drinking (drink in past month, been drunk in past month, weekday [Sunday to Wednesday] drinking, Thursday drinking, weekend [Friday, Saturday] drinking, heavy episodic drinking in past 2 weeks, and peak blood alcohol concentration <.08) were used in a latent transition analysis (LTA) to examine a stage-sequential model of drinking. LTA models with dummy-coded intervention variables were used to examine the effects of the intervention conditions on changes in drinking patterns.
Results:
Results indicated that four patterns of drinking were present at all waves: (a) nondrinkers, (b) weekend light drinkers, (c) weekend heavy episodic drinkers, and (d) heavy drinkers. Results indicated that the PCM condition was most effective at influencing baseline heavy drinkers' transition out of this pattern to lower risk patterns at first follow-up, whereas the ACM condition was not effective at preventing drinking escalation for baseline nondrinkers at first follow-up. No decay of effects was observed at long-term follow-up for the PCM condition. Finally, the results also indicated that increased dosage of the parental intervention was not significantly associated with either reduction or escalation of use.
Conclusions:
The results underscore the value of pre-college parental interventions and targeted efforts to reduce high-risk drinking among college students.
The current study is a multisite randomized alcohol prevention trial to evaluate the efficacy of both a parenting handbook intervention and the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) intervention, alone and in combination, in reducing alcohol use and consequences among a high-risk population of matriculating college students (i.e., former high school athletes).
Students (n = 1,275) completed a series of Web-administered measures at baseline (in the summer before starting college) and follow-up (after 10 months). Students were randomized to one of four conditions: parent intervention only, BASICS only, combined (parent and BASICS), and assessment-only control. Intervention efficacy was tested on a number of outcome measures, including peak blood alcohol concentration, weekly and weekend drinking, and negative consequences. Hypothesized mediators and moderators of intervention effect were tested.
The overall results revealed that the combined-intervention group had significantly lower alcohol consumption, high-risk drinking, and consequences at 10-month follow-up, compared with the control group, with changes in descriptive and injunctive peer norms mediating intervention effects.
The findings of the present study suggest that the parent intervention delivered to students before they begin college serves to enhance the efficacy of the BASICS intervention, potentially priming students to respond to the subsequent BASICS session.
Two studies were conducted to assess variables related to the social determinants of alcohol consumption. In Study 1, moderate- and heavy-drinking male undergraduates were paired with confederates who behaved in a sociable or unsociable manner while modeling either light or heavy consumption. Modeling occurred in the sociable conditions but not in the unsociable conditions, where subjects tended to drink heavily. In Study 2, a similar group of subjects was exposed to one of three social status conditions crossed with light versus heavy consumption. The results indicated a modeling effect in all social status conditions. These studies provide further support for the existence of a modeling effect that can be disrupted by a lack of rapport between drinking partners. This latter finding has implications for the etiology of problem drinking because it suggests that increased alcohol consumption may serve as a strategy for coping with aversive social interactions.
The research evaluated the efficacy of an intervention to reduce the onset and extent of binge drinking during the 1st year of college. The approach was on influencing the students before they start college, through their parents, during the critical time between high school graduation and the beginning of college. Specifically, parents were educated about binge drinking and how to convey information to their teens, and then encouraged to talk with their teens just before their teens embarked on their college education. Teens whose parents implemented the intervention materials were compared with a control sample during their 1st semester on drinking outcomes, perceptions about drinking activities, perceived parental and peer approval of drinking, and drinking-related consequences. As anticipated, teens in the treatment condition were significantly different (p < .05) on nearly all outcomes in the predicted directions (e.g., lower drinking tendencies, drinking consequences). The benefits of a parent-based intervention to prevent college drinking are discussed.
This study examined the effects of leaving home and going to college on changes in the frequency of alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking, and marijuana use shortly after leaving high school. We also examined how protective factors in late adolescence predict post-high school substance use and moderate the effects of leaving home and going to college.
Data came from subjects (N = 319; 53% male) interviewed at the end of 12th grade and again approximately 6 months later, as part of the Raising Healthy Children project.
Leaving home and going to college were significantly related to increases in the frequency of alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking from high school to emerging adulthood but not to changes in marijuana use. Having fewer friends who used each substance protected against increases in the frequency of alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking, and marijuana use. Higher religiosity protected against increases in alcohol-and marijuana-use frequency. Higher parental monitoring protected against increases in heavy episodic drinking and moderated the effect of going to college on marijuana use. Lower sensation seeking lessened the effect of going to college on increases in alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking.
To prevent increases in substance use in emerging adulthood, interventions should concentrate on strengthening prosocial involvement and parental monitoring during high school. In addition, youths with high sensation seeking might be targeted for added intervention.
Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are a significant burden on global economies and public health. Their emergence is thought to be driven largely by socio-economic, environmental and ecological factors, but no comparative study has explicitly analysed these linkages to understand global temporal and spatial patterns of EIDs. Here we analyse a database of 335 EID 'events' (origins of EIDs) between 1940 and 2004, and demonstrate non-random global patterns. EID events have risen significantly over time after controlling for reporting bias, with their peak incidence (in the 1980s) concomitant with the HIV pandemic. EID events are dominated by zoonoses (60.3% of EIDs): the majority of these (71.8%) originate in wildlife (for example, severe acute respiratory virus, Ebola virus), and are increasing significantly over time. We find that 54.3% of EID events are caused by bacteria or rickettsia, reflecting a large number of drug-resistant microbes in our database. Our results confirm that EID origins are significantly correlated with socio-economic, environmental and ecological factors, and provide a basis for identifying regions where new EIDs are most likely to originate (emerging disease 'hotspots'). They also reveal a substantial risk of wildlife zoonotic and vector-borne EIDs originating at lower latitudes where reporting effort is low. We conclude that global resources to counter disease emergence are poorly allocated, with the majority of the scientific and surveillance effort focused on countries from where the next important EID is least likely to originate.
Background: The purpose of this study was to address a dearth in the literature on non-response bias in parent-based interventions (PBIs) by investigating parenting constructs that might be associated with whether a parent volunteers to participate in a no-incentive college drinking PBI. Method: Incoming first-year students (N = 386) completed an online questionnaire that included items assessing plausible predictors of participation in a PBI (students' drinking, perceptions of parents' harm-reduction and zero-tolerance alcohol communication, whether parents allowed alcohol, and changes in parents' alcohol rules). Four months later, all parents of first-year students at the study university were invited to join the PBI, which was described as a resource guide to teach them how to help their student navigate the college transition and prepare them for life at their university. Results: Parents who signed up for the intervention used greater harm-reduction communication than those who did not sign up, were more likely to have allowed alcohol use, and signing up was significantly associated with student reports that fathers became less strict toward drinking after high school. Students' drinking and zero-tolerance communication did not significantly differ between the groups. Conclusion: Results indicate that non-response bias can be an issue when utilizing a real-world, non-RCT recruitment approach to invite parents into a PBI (i.e., non-incentivized, inviting all parents). Findings suggest that more comprehensive recruitment strategies may be required to increase parent diversity in PBIs.
Selection effects have been found in health intervention research but have not yet been examined in parent-based alcohol interventions (PBIs). Investigating such effects has been difficult because previous PBI research has only invited specific parents to participate and offered them compensation. The current study investigated selection effects using a recruitment strategy that would occur in a real-world context (i.e., inviting all parents and not paying them to participate). Incoming first-year students (N=386) completed an online questionnaire that included items assessing plausible predictors of participation in a PBI (perceptions of parents’ harm-reduction and zero-tolerance alcohol communication, whether parents allow alcohol, and changes in parents’ alcohol rules). Four months later, all parents of first-year students at the study university were invited to join the PBI, which was described as a resource guide to teach them how to help their student navigate the college transition. Students who had a parent sign up for the intervention perceived their parents as using greater harm-reduction communication, were more likely to perceive them as allowing alcohol use, and perceived their fathers as relaxing alcohol rules more than those who did not have a parent sign up. Zero-tolerance communication did not significantly differ between the groups. Results indicate that biases may exist in PBIs, with parents who use more harm-reduction parenting being more likely to sign up when parents are invited using real-world recruitment strategies. Findings suggest that more comprehensive recruitment strategies may be required to increase parent diversity in PBIs.
Significance
Estimates of the probability of occurrence of intense epidemics based on the long-observed history of infectious diseases remain lagging or lacking altogether. Here, we assemble and analyze a global dataset of large epidemics spanning four centuries. The rate of occurrence of epidemics varies widely in time, but the probability distribution of epidemic intensity assumes a constant form with a slowly decaying algebraic tail, implying that the probability of extreme epidemics decreases slowly with epidemic intensity. Together with recent estimates of increasing rates of disease emergence from animal reservoirs associated with environmental change, this finding suggests a high probability of observing pandemics similar to COVID-19 (probability of experiencing it in one’s lifetime currently about 38%), which may double in coming decades.
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150623/1/2018-19 VOL II FINAL 2.pdf
Objective:
It is well established that college students increase their drinking when they leave home. This study examined changes in drinking as a result of campus closure due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), focusing on the influence of living situation.
Method:
A sample of 312 college students (mean age = 21.2 years; 62% female; 67% White) responded to an online survey regarding their drinking behavior before and after university closures because of COVID-19. Those participants who lived with peers pre-closure and moved home to live with parents post-closure were compared with those who remained living with peers or remained living with parents in terms of changes in frequency and quantity of drinking.
Results:
A comparison of pre- to post-closure drinking indicated significant decreases in the typical number of drinks per week (from 11.5 to 9.9) and maximum drinks per day (from 4.9 to 3.3) and a slight increase in typical drinking days per week (from 3 to 3.2). Patterns of change significantly varied across groups. Those who moved from peers to parents showed significantly greater reductions in drinking days (from 3.1 to 2.7), number of drinks per week (from 13.9 to 8.5), and maximum drinks in one day (from 5.4 to 2.9) than those who remained living with peers or with parents. In contrast, the latter two groups significantly increased their frequency (from 3.0 to 3.7 days and 2.0 to 3.3 days, respectively).
Conclusions:
Participants reduced their quantity of drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Returning to live with parents during emerging adulthood may be protective for heavy drinking.
Background:
The first year of university attendance represents a critical time frame for the development of alcohol use and misuse given changes in autonomy and increased access to alcohol. Prior studies have demonstrated that the establishment of drinking patterns during this period is impacted by an array of demographic, environmental, and familial factors. It is critical to consider such factors jointly, and to understand potentially differential effects on stages of alcohol use/misuse, in order to identify robust predictors that may be targeted in prevention and intervention programming.
Methods:
As part of a longitudinal study, students at a large, public U.S. university were invited to complete online surveys that included questions related to alcohol use, emotional and behavioral health, environmental factors, sociodemographic factors, and familial environment. This study uses data from surveys administered in the fall and spring of the first year of university. We used univariate (maximum N = 7,291) and multivariate (maximum N = 4,788) logistic and linear regressions to evaluate the associations between potential risk and protective factors with 4 alcohol use outcomes: initiation, consumption, problems, and addiction resistance.
Results:
In multivariate models, we observed associations between demographic, social/environmental, and personal-level predictors with all 4 alcohol outcomes, several of which were consistent across each stage of alcohol use. A deviant high school peer group was one of the strongest predictors of risk across outcomes. The influence of drinking motives and alcohol expectancies varied by alcohol use outcome. Externalizing characteristics were associated with increased risk across outcomes, while internalizing symptoms were associated with more problems and lower addiction resistance.
Conclusions:
These findings underscore the complex network of factors influencing stages of alcohol use during the first year of university. Importantly, these findings demonstrate that the impact of predictors changes across stages of alcohol use/misuse, which presents opportunities for targeted prevention efforts.
Background:
There is a well-known link between attending college and engaging in excessive alcohol use. This study examines in a national sample how the association between student status and excessive alcohol use changes from late adolescence through young adulthood and whether the association of student status with excessive alcohol use is different for students residing with versus away from parents during the school year.
Methods:
This study used cross-sectional data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized civilian adults residing in the United States. Our analyses included nonhigh school young adults who were ages 18 to 30 years (n = 8,645). Excessive alcohol use included past-year (i) high-intensity drinking (men: ≥10 standard drinks; women: ≥8) and (ii) exceeding weekly drinking guidelines (men: >14 drinks per week; women: >7). Students who resided away from their parents and students who lived with their parents during the school year were compared to nonstudents.
Results:
Analyses using time-varying effect modeling showed that the relationship of student status with excessive alcohol use varied as a function of age. Overall student status lost its association with excessive alcohol use in the early 20s, after controlling for demographics and other adult social roles. The association between student status and excessive alcohol use also varied considerably across age and depending on whether the student was residing with or away from parents.
Conclusions:
The association of student status with excessive alcohol use is heterogeneous in terms of both age and living arrangements, suggesting opportunities for interventions targeting problematic alcohol use. Future research should examine additional sources of heterogeneity of students in their risk for excessive alcohol use.
a model of secondary prevention for alcohol use by young adults is presented / secondary prevention is typically defined as the provision of early programming for those most at risk or those showing early or prodromal signs of a disorder / argue that both primary prevention and tertiary care have limited impact with this age group, and that secondary prevention approaches provide a flexible and individualized approach to a complex and multidetermined problem / review briefly the nature and etiology of young people's alcohol use / [present a] detailed rationale for secondary prevention and a model program at the University of Washington (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Leading scholars, researchers, and clinicians in the field of addictive behavior provide an examination of drug dependency from a life span perspective in this authoritative volume. These experts argue that addictive problems among adolescents, young adults, those in mid-life, and the elderly require new forms of intervention and different theoretical conceptualizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Using multivariate statistics
- B G Tabachnick
- L S Fidell
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Facing addiction in America: The Surgeon General's report on alcohol, drugs, and health
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Planning alcohol interventions using NIAAA's CollegeAIM (No. 19-AA-8107)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2019). Planning alcohol
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