Download or read book Implementation and Evaluation of a Classroom based Approach to Expectancy Challenge for Reducing Alcohol Use Among First year College Students written by Janani Sivasithamparam and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a pervasive belief in the United States that the college experience typically includes frequent social activities characterized by widespread alcohol use. Unfortunately, awareness of the hundreds of deaths and wide variety of other harms experienced by college students as a result of alcohol use is much less pervasive. In an effort to increase awareness of the negative impact of alcohol use on college campuses, the NIAAA commissioned a panel composed of scientists and college presidents to document alcohol-related harms and identify strategies that have been found to be effective in reducing risky alcohol use based on empirical evidence. The final report of this expert panel was released as a "Call to Action" for institutions nationwide in an effort to increase understanding of the severity and prevalence of risky alcohol use, and to provide descriptions of programs that were considered effective based on empirical evidence. Unfortunately, there were very few strategies found to be effective, and one of the effective approaches could only be implemented in specialized laboratories operated by scientists with expertise in expectancy challenge. Due to the severity and pervasiveness of the college alcohol problem and the limited number of strategies deemed effective, there is clearly a pressing need to develop and validate an expectancy challenge method that could be implemented by any institution without being limited by the need for a specialized laboratory and highly trained personnel. Achievement of these goals was the focus of the present project. To this end, an expectancy challenge curriculum designed for delivery in a college classroom was developed based on a laboratory delivered protocol previously found to be effective in reducing alcohol use among college students, and a classroom delivered curriculum previously found to be effective with high school students. The newly developed college classroom curriculum was implemented in a single session with groups of students during their regular class time in their usual classroom. Measures of alcohol use and associated harms were completed anonymously by each participant before completing the curriculum and for the month following completion of the curriculum. Analyses indicated significant reductions in alcohol consumption among males and females in comparison to students who were randomly assigned to a wait-list control condition. Unfortunately, significant reductions in alcohol-related harms were not found. The time periods for baseline and follow-up were only one month each, and that limitation in the number of opportunities to experience harms limits the likelihood of demonstrating a significant reduction in harms as well. Overall, this project represents an important advance in the development of alcohol use reduction strategies that are theory-based and effective in reducing alcohol use based on empirical evidence. In addition, the curriculum that was developed and validated in this project represents the first expectancy challenge method that can be readily implemented at any institution willing to devote one hour to reducing their students' risk for a long list of negative consequences associated with alcohol use on college campuses. Motivation and a typical classroom are all that is needed.
Download or read book Evaluation of an Expectnacy sic Challenge Curriculum in Reducing High Risk Alcohol Use Among College Students when Modified for Large Classes written by Amy Marie Schreiner and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol consumption has repeatedly been recognized as the primary public health concern impacting students on college campuses. In response to the prevalence of risky alcohol use and lack of effective response among colleges and universities, the National Advisory Council of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism created a task force to review the relevant research literature on alcohol interventions to advise college administrators on effective program implementation and evaluation as well as provide recommendations for future research directions. Only three strategies met criteria for Tier 1 designation (empirical support specifically with college students) and two of these strategies are intensive and time-consuming individual methods. The third Tier 1 strategy, challenging alcohol expectancies, was the only method that was validated for administration in a group setting. For widespread utility of expectancy-based prevention strategies, effective interventions must be developed for delivery in typical settings. The focus of the present study was to modify an existing classroom curriculum designed to alter expectancy processes of college students for use in classroom settings of 100+ students as they have become the typical class size in college and university settings. The modified expectancy curriculum was implemented in a single session with students during their actual classes. Measures of alcohol consumption and alcohol related harms were collected anonymously for the 30 days prior and the 30 days following the curriculum. Measures of alcohol expectancies were also collected anonymously immediately prior and immediately following the curriculum. Analyses revealed significant reductions in average drinks per sitting males and key expectancy changes for both males and females. A low number of high-risk drinkers led to further exploratory analyses with the exclusion of a proportion of the lighter drinkers in the sample. These analyses revealed significant decreases in average drinks per sitting and peak drinks per sitting for both males and females. There were no significant changes in alcohol related harms. This study represents an important extension of expectancy-based interventions for a college population. An intervention that began as a multi-session, time and resource intensive protocol for a small group of participants has been successfully modified for use with groups of 100+ people. The current protocol can be given to this large a group in a single session curriculum that can be delivered in any standard classroom.
Download or read book Development and Evaluation of a Single session Expectancy Challenge Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Use Among Heavy Drinking College Students written by Hoyee Cathy Lau and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While overall rates of college student drinking have declined slightly since 1980, extreme forms of drinking are escalating. A comprehensive review of all aspects of alcohol use among college students completed by a panel of scientists and college presidents concluded that very few approaches for dealing with student drinking can be considered empirically validated, and they strongly encouraged additional efforts to develop and validate effective strategies. Expectancy challenge approaches designed to reduce risky drinking through changing key expectancies have been identified as one of the few validated strategies, but this approach has not been developed into a format that is reliably effective with females or readily delivered in a single meeting. Widespread implementation of expectancy-based strategies is dependent on further evolution of a pragmatic format of this approach while maintaining effectiveness with groups that has already been established and increasing effectiveness with other groups.
Download or read book Evaluation of the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum ECALC for Reducing Alcohol Use Among High School Students written by Janani Sivasithamparam and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol use is the single most alarming behavior among youth in the United States. Adolescents especially are at risk for increases in heavy episodic drinking and drunkenness leading to alcohol-related problems such as academic failure, interpersonal violence, risky sexual behavior and death. In an effort to address this endemic issue, a number of alcohol use prevention programs have been developed and are currently implemented in the high school setting. Many of these programs, however, lack an empirical basis and have been unable to demonstrate significant reductions in alcohol use over time. The need for the development and dissemination of effective strategies to address adolescent drinking is evident. Recommendations for newly developing approaches encourage an emphasis on empirically-based content and easily implemented protocols. Expectancy challenge-based interventions have been identified by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as having strong evidence supporting their effectiveness in reducing alcohol use among college students. Recent efforts to translate such programs into forms effective with high school adolescents have been met with mixed results. The focus of the present study was to modify, implement and evaluate the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC), a program currently validated for use with college populations, for high school adolescents. The single session, high school version of the ECALC was infused into the existing Health Education high school curriculum and implemented with those in the 9th through 12th grades. Measures of alcohol expectancies and alcohol use were completed anonymously by each participant before delivery of the program and for 30 days thereafter. Impact of the ECALC was compared to classes randomly assigned to an attention-matched control condition. Findings revealed significant changes in alcohol expectancies and alcohol use reported by participants in the 11th and 12th grades following delivery of the ECALC. Changes were found across factor analytic and multidimensional scaling (MDS) statistical methods applied to the expectancy measure, as well as across measures of estimated intoxication and drinking quantity/frequency. Findings were consistent among both male and female participants. Reductions in alcohol use were not found among 9th and 10th grade participants, and expectancy changes were inconsistent. The assessment periods for baseline and follow-up were thirty days, which may reflect a limitation in that a longer follow-up may be more likely to capture significant behavioral changes over time. This study was the first to apply both factor analytic and MDS methods to analysis of the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol questionnaire, with clear implications for expectancy measurement techniques likely to be most appropriate for capturing changes in expectancy activation patterns over time. Overall, this study represents an important advance in the development of an empirically-based and validated alcohol use prevention program effective for use with adolescents. In addition, the ECALC serves as a prevention program that is easily implemented in the high school setting, requiring only 50 minutes of class time, a classroom, and a motivated educator.
Download or read book Evaluation of an Expectancy Challenge Presentation in Reducing High risk Alcohol Use Among Greek Affiliated College Students written by Abigail Fried and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol consumption and on college campuses has long been a significant problem. The severity of the situation and lack of effective alcohol programming on college campuses warranted the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to commission a Task Force on College Drinking in 2002, which has been vital in revealing drinking patterns and negative consequences which are specific to the college environment. The Task Force proposed three strategies that were empirically validated for prevention and intervention in the college setting. Of the three recommendations, implementing cognitive behavioral skills training and offering motivational enhancement interventions, while proven effective are costly and time consuming to implement. The final strategy recommended, challenging alcohol expectancies, has been validated for use in a group setting making it a more viable option for reaching larger audiences. Within the college environment there are certain factors that have shown to be important in influencing college students' drinking behaviors, attitudes toward drinking, and alcohol related negative consequences. Specifically, membership in a fraternity or sorority has revealed a unique predictor of risky drinking behavior and an increased risk of suffering from negative consequences related to alcohol. The purpose of the present study was to implement an expectancy-based presentation in Greek chapter houses to alter expectancies and decrease risky drinking behavior. Alcohol expectancies were measured before and immediately after the presentation. Alcohol consumption was also assessed in a self-report measure of drinking for the 30 days prior to the presentation as well as 30 days following it. Analyses revealed significant reductions in positive alcohol expectancies and alcohol consumption on measures of quantity (average drinks per sitting), frequency (average drinking days per week), and heavy episodic drinking (average weekly peak blood alcohol content). Therefore, the structure and effectiveness of the current intervention program proves extremely useful and practical for widespread implementation in Greek chapter houses across all college campuses.
Download or read book Evaluation of Digitally Enhanced Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum ECALC for Use with Mandated College Students written by Abigail B. Fried and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol use has been a longstanding problem on college campuses. Despite the efforts National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the commissioned Task Force on College Drinking (2002), there has been a recent rise in the number of alcohol related arrests and violations on college campuses. Within the high-risk mandated student population, the most successful programs utilize motivational enhancement strategies, such as the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS). Likely due to financial constraints, an important issue that has been raised is the limited availability of validated methods for alcohol prevention and intervention on college campuses. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the digitally assisted Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC) by direct comparison of the ECALC to an already well-established treatment (i.e., BASICS) in an effort to reduce problematic alcohol use and related negative consequences among mandated college students. The role of the digital enhancements is to decrease time and resources necessary for training facilitators and aid in widespread implementation. Analyses revealed significant reductions on all four positive alcohol expectancies subscales for those in the ECALC condition and a significant intervening effect for the expectancies of Sociability and Liquid Courage. Results also revealed that for both males and females, those in the ECALC condition demonstrated significantly greater reductions in frequency of alcohol use (i.e., number of drinking days per month) and comparable reductions in typical (i.e., mean BAC, average drinks per sitting, average drinks per week) and heavy alcohol use (i.e., peak BAC, peak drinks per sitting, number of binge episodes) at follow-up when compared to those in the BASICS condition.
Download or read book Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students BASICS written by Linda A. Dimeff and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 1999-01-08 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This instructive manual presents a pragmatic and clinically proven approach to the prevention and treatment of undergraduate alcohol abuse. The BASICS model is a nonconfrontational, harm reduction approach that helps students reduce their alcohol consumption and decrease the behavioral and health risks associated with heavy drinking. Including numerous reproducible handouts and assessment forms, the book takes readers step-by-step through conducting BASICS assessment and feedback sessions. Special topics covered include the use of DSM-IV criteria to evaluate alcohol abuse, ways to counter student defensiveness about drinking, and obtaining additional treatment for students with severe alcohol dependency. Note about Photocopy Rights: The Publisher grants individual book purchasers nonassignable permission to reproduce selected figures, information sheets, and assessment instruments in this book for professional use. For details and limitations, see copyright page.
Download or read book Alcohol No Ordinary Commodity written by Thomas F. Babor and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-10-31 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity is a collaborative effort by an international group of addiction scientists to improve the linkages between addiction science and alcohol policy. It presents, in a comprehensive, practical, and readily accessible form, the accumulated scientific knowledge on alcohol research that has a direct relevance to the development of alcohol policy on local, national, and international levels. It provides an objective basis on which to build relevant policies globally and informs policy makers who have direct responsibility for public health and social welfare. By locating alcohol policy primarily within the realm of public health, this book draws attention to the growing tendency for governments, both national and local, to consider alcohol misuse as a major determinant of ill health, and to organize societal responses accordingly. The scope of the book is comprehensive and global. The authors describe the conceptual basis for a rational alcohol policy and present new epidemiological data on the global dimensions of alcohol misuse. The core of the book is a critical review of the cumulative scientific evidence in seven general areas of alcohol policy: pricing and taxation, regulating the physical availability of alcohol, modifying the environment in which drinking occurs, drinking-driving countermeasures, marketing restrictions, primary prevention programs in schools and other settings, and treatment and early intervention services. The final chapters discuss the current state of alcohol policy in different parts of the world and describe the need for a new approach to alcohol policy that is evidence-based, global, and coordinated. A valuable resource for those involved in addiction science and drug policy, as well as those in the wider fields of public health, health policy, epidemiology, and practising clinicians.
Download or read book Reducing Underage Drinking written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-03-26 with total page 761 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous - both to themselves and society at large. Underage alcohol use is associated with traffic fatalities, violence, unsafe sex, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors that diminish the prospects of future success, as well as health risks â€" and the earlier teens start drinking, the greater the danger. Despite these serious concerns, the media continues to make drinking look attractive to youth, and it remains possible and even easy for teenagers to get access to alcohol. Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which may different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it. Reducing Underage Drinking will serve as both a game plan and a call to arms for anyone with an investment in youth health and safety.
Download or read book Evaluation of an Online Alcohol Education Program for First time in college Students written by Elayne Reiss and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol use among college students has maintained its place as a major issue in American higher education since its inception. Although dangerous drinking has always proliferated among college students, institutions have only provided alcohol and other drug (AOD) education and interventions encouraging students to adapt less harmful habits for a much shorter period of time. During this relatively short history of postsecondary alcohol interventions, colleges and universities have shifted away from abstinence-only, education-based methods. Instead, institutions have begun to adapt cognitive behavior-centric, motivational enhancement-based strategies emphasizing harm reduction through the use of protective behaviors. In order to reach a greater number of students, alcohol intervention programs have been developed combining the harm reduction ideology with internet-based dispersion at a population level. This research study addressed the behavioral changes that occurred among an entire class of first-time-in-college freshmen at a large public university before and after mandatory participation in AlcoholEdu for College, an online, population-level, harm reduction-based alcohol intervention. The study expanded upon previous evaluations of the program, which addressed program efficacy among the population as a whole but did not further explore differences in effect upon students engaging in different levels of drinking. Other demographic factors, such as gender, ethnicity, family history of alcohol issues, and age of first consumption, were also taken into account. Pre-test surveys taken by students prior to the intervention at the beginning of the academic year were matched to follow-up surveys taken four to six weeks after program completion, providing the necessary data for conducting a quantitative study. The specific areas of interest within the study included (a) willingness to complete the program in a timely and complete fashion, (b) levels of consumption, (c) use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS), and (d) incurrence of negative alcohol-related consequences. A combination of analytical procedures was utilized, including descriptive statistics, chi-square tests for independence, exploratory factor analysis, repeated measures ANCOVA, and nonparametric inferential tests. Results were described within the framework of social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2004) as well as the CIPP program evaluation framework (Stufflebeam & Shinkfield, 2007). The analysis uncovered that three major factors determined willingness to complete the mandatory program in a timely and complete fashion: gender, age of first alcohol consumption, and drinker group. Specifically, students who were male, started drinking prior to high school, or were identified as heavy episodic drinkers were less likely than peers to complete all portions of the AlcoholEdu program. Both moderate and heavy episodic drinkers reduced their levels of consumption between pre-test and follow-up. A large percentage of abstaining students maintained this status later in the semester. Light and moderate drinkers either maintained or slightly reduced their use of PBS, while heavy episodic drinkers showed increases in use of most types of PBS over time. All students indicated low levels of incurrence of negative consequences in both the pre-test and follow-up periods. However, while students experienced an increased number of most of these consequences between the pre-test and follow-up surveys, heavy drinkers cited a decreased rate of drinking and driving-related consequences as of the follow-up. Throughout all of the analyses, important controlling factors included gender, ethnicity, and age of first alcohol consumption. The results of this study can guide future development and refinement of the AlcoholEdu program, as well as provide higher education administrators and AOD education program staff with additional baseline knowledge of the change process first-time-in-college freshmen undergo when engaged in the program.
Download or read book Alcohol Consumption Among College Students written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol consumption among college students can lead to negative consequences for those consuming alcohol as well as for their classmates. The 2002 report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Task Force on College Drinking described a `three-in-one' evidence-based approach for alcohol consumption reduction strategies. Despite nearly 15 years of published evidence-based consumption reduction strategies, the rate of binge or high risk drinking has remained constant (Hingson, Zha, & Weitzman, 2009; Wechsler, Lee, Nelson, & Kuo, 2002c). A college's chief student affairs officer is typically tasked to create and implement an institution's alcohol policy (Dowdall, 2013). There is, however, minimal research that explores chief student affairs officers' perspectives about the NIAAA's "three-in-one" approach. This qualitative descriptive study was guided by the following research questions: What are chief student affairs officers' perspectives regarding evidence-based alcohol consumption reduction strategies? How do chief student affairs officers describe the strategies used on their campus to address alcohol consumption? What are the barriers or obstacles to the implementation of evidence-based alcohol consumption reduction strategies? Study participants (N=6) were purposefully selected, comprising college/university chief student affairs officers from a New England state who work at four-year, private, independent institutions that allow alcohol consumption among the legal drinking age population. Chief student affairs officers were interviewed on their respective campuses using a semi-structured interview protocol. As Patton (2002) stated, the benefits of interviewing individuals is to learn their views and perspectives and because of the need for a complex detailed understanding (Creswell, 2007) of this issue. Inductive coding allowed the researcher to discover emerging themes and patterns (Patton, 2002) that described student affair officers' perspectives regarding evidence-based alcohol consumption reduction strategies. Findings emerged as transcripts were cross-case analyzed reflecting the following five themes: college students propensity to consume alcohol, alcohol policy approaches, policy implementation challenges, reduction strategies in use, and perceived effectiveness of strategies. The results may benefit policy makers within government and higher education who continually reexamine higher education alcohol policy with the goal to reduce high risk drinking.
Download or read book College Student Alcohol Abuse written by Christopher J. Correia and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-09-14 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essential evidence-based strategies for the prevention and reduction of alcohol abuse among college students With contributions from notable substance abuse researchers, this practical guide presents clear strategies for prevention of and interventions for alcohol abuse in the college-age population. Ranging from community-based prevention programs to individual, motivational, and interview-based approaches, College Student Alcohol Abuse explores: The leading theories used to conceptualize college student drinking and related problems, with an emphasis on the clinical implications of each perspective Epidemiology of student drug use including illicit drugs and nonmedical use of prescription drugs The spectrum of empirically supported prevention programs with a focus on best practices and materials How to conduct assessments and create intervention programs for students with substance abuse problems A must-have resource for every college administrator, resident staff member, and addiction counselor who works with this unique population, College Student Alcohol Abuse translates the latest research findings and interventions into clear and evidence-based strategies for assessing and treating college students who are abusing alcohol.
Download or read book Evaluation of a Digitally automated Alcohol Curriculum Designed to Alter Expectancies and Alcohol in Use First year College Students written by Amy Marie Schreiner and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analyses revealed significant changes in both positive and negative expectancies following the digital ECALC, however no significant changes in alcohol consumption or alcohol-related harms were observed at a 30 day follow-up. Exploratory subgroup analyses revealed significant differences between experimental and control groups on average and peak drinks per sitting for classes receiving the digital ECALC during the fall semester only. Semester specific variables, environmental context, and social influence variables may have contributed to the lack of behavioral changes in the overall sample following observed expectancy changes. This study represents an important development in expectancy-based interventions for college students as the digital format removed the need for an expert facilitator and maintained significant changes in expectancies. Future studies should focus on replication of these expectancy changes and on demonstrating subsequent changes in alcohol use and related harms. The present study also represents the first evaluation of a group-administered expectancy intervention to report on intra-class correlations which will aid future researchers in designing sufficiently powered studies going forward.
Download or read book Evaluation of the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum ECALC for High School Students written by Alyssa Rose Dietz and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though the ECALC has been validated with college students, the present study involved revising and evaluating the program to be appropriate for high school students. Results revealed changes in expectancy processes for students who reported alcohol use initiation and changes in mean BAC among females in this group.
Download or read book Changes in Likely Activation Patterns of Alcohol Expectancies After Exposure to the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum ECALC written by Jessica N. Flori and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alcohol is the most commonly used substance by adolescents in the United States with underage alcohol use being associated with a variety of harms. The Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC) is a 45-minute interactive expectancy challenge intervention that has been found to be effective in reducing alcohol use. Although ECALC is thought to produce reductions in drinking by changing expectancies, the nature of these expectancy changes has yet to be explored. The purpose of the present study was to link ECALC outcome studies with a memory model approach to understanding the mechanism by which expectancies influence behavior. Participants (n =131) were college students who reported one binge drinking episode in the past month. Students were randomly assigned to receive ECALC or an alcohol education presentation. Alcohol expectancies were assessed before and after the presentation with a Memory Model-Based Expectancy Questionnaire (MMBEQ) and the Comprehensive Effectiveness of Alcohol Scale (CEOA). Participants were grouped based on experimental condition, time, and sex. Expectancies were mapped into memory network format using Individual Differences Scaling (INDSCAL), and consistent with previous studies, a two dimension solution was optimal (stress = .28, R2 = .81 MMBEQ; stress = .272, R2 = .683 CEOA; stress = .228, R2 = .806 combined analyses). PREFMAP vectors modeling paths of likely expectancy activation suggested a greater likelihood of activating negative and sedating expectancies after completion of the ECALC program. This has been the first study to connect effects of the ECALC to the memory model approach to understanding how expectancies influence drinking behavior. Duration of effects of ECALC have yet to be established, but developing methods to enhance and maintain ECALC effects on expectancy activation patterns is likely to promote lasting reductions in drinking and associated harms.
Download or read book How to Reduce High risk College Drinking written by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-06-24 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: College student drinking to excess is a widespread national problem with serious consequences and it has been for a long time. Although the factors that have made the problem so intractable are complex, today based on scientific research results we have the potential to make real progress in controlling excessive drinking. In fact, a substantial body of research studies now offers direction on how to reduce excessive, underage, and high-risk college drinking. On the basis of this information, colleges and universities, communities, and other interested organizations can take steps toward positive change more confidently. Although significant information gaps remain, the science-based guidance now available means campuses and communities no longer have to “reinvent the wheel” when they try to address the problem. It also enables us to avoid inadvertently perpetuating ineffective programs and approaches.The availability of science-based guidance is a significant step forward because lack of information about what works and what does not has been a major obstacle to progress. On the research side, high-quality research has addressed only some of the issues of concern to college administrators and the practical implications of research results have not been widely disseminated. On the institutional side, most campus alcohol efforts have not been evaluated, which has hindered the effectiveness of individual campus efforts and slowed the growth of the knowledge base from which all could learn.Although the research base on college alcohol problems is limited, the panel of college presidents, students, and alcohol research specialists that contributed to this report identified a number of effective strategies that colleges and universities could confidently use today. These include strategies for changing the environment to discourage high-risk drinking, affecting the behavior of individuals and groups, creating comprehensive college-community efforts to combat the problem, and adopting effective approaches for managing program implementation. It is encouraging that many of these strategies require no new resources, are modest in costs, and can be accomplished by existing staff.From its review of the scientific literature, the Panel on Prevention and Treatment believes that adopting approaches with demonstrated effectiveness can begin to reduce high-risk college drinking and continue to advance knowledge by filling critical research gaps. The Panel recommends that the action steps and research needs described below receive priority attention from colleges and universities, researchers, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and other potential funders, communities, and interested organizations.The Panel recommended more action steps in some areas than in others. This is primarily due to the amount of research available. Except as noted, approaches that have not been included in the recommendations are not necessarily ineffective. Often simply less is known about them. Among the “key research gaps” identified by the Panel is the need for rigorous testing of strategies now considered “promising” based on face value or common sense. As researchers rise to this challenge, the effectiveness of many of these approaches will become known.
Download or read book Reducing Alcohol Consumption Among High School Students by Challenging Alcohol Expectancies written by Iris Yolanda Cruz and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Altering alcohol expectancies has reduced alcohol use among college students and may lead to successful prevention of alcohol use among high school students. We randomly assigned 379 12th-grade students to an expectancy challenge, traditional alcohol information, or control condition, and used Individual Differences Scaling to map expectancies into memory network format with Preference Mapping to model likely paths of association. After expectancy and traditional alcohol interventions, higher drinking male participants exhibited a greater likelihood to associate alcohol use with negative and sedating consequences and a decreased likelihood to associate alcohol with positive and arousing consequences. Drinking decreases paralleled the magnitude of changes in their likely path of expectancy activation. Children and adults who emphasize negative and sedating effects have been found to be less likely to use alcohol. Therefore, expectancy challenge interventions that have been successful at modifying expectancies and subsequently decreasing alcohol consumption among heavy drinking college students may be useful in the development of prevention curricula for high school students.
