Here's a summary of an interesting presentation slated for November 1, 2015, at the 143rd annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Chicago: Background: Hispanic adolescents are at increased risk for alcohol use and binge drinking. Research is needed to more thoroughly understand the variables involved with such high rates of alcohol use. The present [...]
This interesting small experiment randomly assigned 101 U.K. college students with excessive drinking to one of four conditions. In each condition, the students received one message a week for four weeks. The messages varied by condition: official alcohol consumption guidelines how their consumption compared to official guidelines how their consumption compared to the sample mean where their [...]
We mentioned our Google Scholar alert for "normative misperceptions" in a previous post about a paper that was interesting but not directly relevant. Here is a prime example of the opposite result from our alert: a paper that is interesting and directly relevant. From the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of [...]
We have a Google Scholar alert for publications related to "normative misperceptions." The results are always interesting, even though many are not relevant. We try to do blog posts on the most relevant ones. Every once in a while, there is one that is not directly relevant but that we find interesting in its own [...]
Bystander Training for Drinking Situations among College Students How can bystanders become rescuers? Bystander training programs help give individuals skills and confidence to intervene in risky situations like sexual violence, bullying, drug overdoses, and drunk driving. However, people intervening often face dilemmas in balancing concern for the safety of others with maintaining their own social [...]
Six key ingredients can increase success Social marketing uses conventional marketing tools and techniques with the aim not of making profit, but of promoting individual and group behavior changes that reap health or social benefits. There are 6 key elements in the social marketing approach that work best when used all together. A new literature [...]
Audience segmentation to create more effective prevention messages A recent Australian study found several clues to understand what motivates parents to provide alcohol to their underage children: They want their child to fit in with other kids They want to be the child’s “friend” as well as a parent (the “cool” parent) They see it [...]
Do problem drinkers self-select into fraternities and sororities? College students affiliated with Greek letter organizations (e.g., fraternities and sororities) are more likely to drink within the past month than unaffiliated students (B = 0.73, p < 0.01), according to a recent analysis of National College Health Assessment (NCHA) data (Foster et al., 2014). The question [...]
How does survey format affect college students' willingness to answer sensitive questions? Kays, K., Gathercoal, K., & Buhrow, W. (2012). Does survey format influence self-disclosure on sensitive question items?. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(1), 251-256. This study compared web-based versus paper-based survey of the National College Health Assessment (NCHA). A sample of college students rated each [...]
Heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems are reduced through BASICS program A new randomized controlled trial has found that undergraduate heavy drinkers, whether mandated or volunteer to participate in the BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students) program, have fewer drinks weekly and fewer alcohol-related problems, compared to a control group. Even 12 months after the intervention, [...]
