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Abstract
Social problems and adverse consequences have been associated with risky alcohol use (Paschall et al, 2015). Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF) has been utilized to address these problems (White and Hingson, 2014) by comparing students’ alcohol use to campus or national norms (Butler et al, 2009). The current investigation sought to understand differences in alcohol use behaviors in freshmen who did and did not report completion of a personalized feedback intervention (PFI) in a diverse sample of college students from the Spit for Science (S4S) project. S4S is a campus-wide, longitudinal study on the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to mental health and substance use outcomes in college students. Freshmen (N=1,168) completed surveys in the fall and spring; in the spring, whether or not students completed a PFI during their freshman year was assessed. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms and grams of ethanol consumed were calculated for participants who reported completing an online PFI for alcohol use (n=365) and for those who did not (n=803). We hypothesized that (1) PFI freshmen would exhibit greater alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms in the fall (pre-PFI), and (2) students in both groups would exhibit equal rates in the spring (post-PFI). There was sufficient evidence to support the fall hypothesis: students in the prevention group exhibited higher levels of alcohol consumption (t=1.39, p<0.001) and AUD symptoms (t=2.42, p=0.031). The spring hypothesis was not supported: PFI students exhibited higher levels of alcohol consumption (t)=1.4373, p<0.01) and AUD symptoms (t=2.09, p < 0.01). Future research could examine whether the results may vary by ethnicity or other demographic characteristics.
Publication Date
2018
Subject Major(s)
Department of Biology, Department of Anthropology, Department of Psychology, College Behavioral and Emotional Health Institute
Keywords
spit for science, college students, alcohol use, alcohol use disorder, personalized normative feedback intervention, alcohol, consumption, AUD, ethanol consumption
Disciplines
Genetics and Genomics | Psychology
Current Academic Year
Junior
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Amy Adkins, PhD
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Zoe Neale, MS
Rights
© The Author(s)
Recommended Citation
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