Efficacy of a brief alcohol consumption reintervention for adolescents.

This article reports the efficacy of a brief substance use preventive reintervention for suburban high school students funded by NIAAA. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a brief consultation or control brochure in Fall 2002. Significant positive effects at the 3- and 12-month follow-up have been reported elsewhere. A total of 346 10th- and 12th-grade students were recruited from the original sample for the reintervention study in Fall 2003. Students remained in their originally assigned group and received a brief iterative consultation or control brochure. The same survey was used to collect information on ATOD use and risk/protective factors at all data points. MANCOVAs revealed no group differences 18 months after the initial study baseline. Analysis examining interactions between substance users and nonusers by treatment group indicated significant positive effects for substance-using adolescents who received reintervention. Study limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A field study of bar-sponsored drink specials and their associations with patron intoxication.

OBJECTIVE: The study examined associations between bar-sponsored drink specials and alcohol intoxication at the patron level. METHOD: Data were collected in a college bar district located in a large campus community in the southeastern United States. Random and self-selected samples of patrons were interviewed after exiting college bars at night on four different nights (N=383). Anonymous interview and questionnaire data were collected as well as breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) readings. RESULTS: Significant gender differences existed in patron drinking practices. Women were more likely to take advantage of drink specials, whereas men reported greater alcohol expenditures, consumed more drinks, and drank for longer periods of time. Gender differences in BrAC were very small and not meaningful. Patrons who did not take advantage of drink specials reported consuming more drinks before bar entry than patrons who did participate in these promotions. Participation in "all-you-can-drink" promotions was significantly associated with higher BrAC readings after adjusting for covariates and random effects attributable to drinking establishment. Other drink specials did not have significant associations with alcohol intoxication. CONCLUSIONS: The all-you-can-drink special may be the specific discounting practice with the greatest potential for boosting patron intoxication and thus may need to be a stronger focus of alcohol-control policies aimed at improving the beverage service of drinking establishments.

Brief Image-based Health Behavior Messages for Adolescents and Their Parents.

This study tested the efficacy of brief image-based print mediated parent/caregiver and adolescent messages integrating physical activity with alcohol use avoidance. A total of 684 high school students were randomly assigned to either the parent postcard or adolescent flyer arm, with baseline and four-month post-intervention data collections. A significant repeated measures interaction (group × time) was found (F(4,344)=2.48, p=.04), with univariate tests showing less alcohol use frequency and problems (p's<.05) among adolescents exposed to parent materials. Repeated measures factorial MANOVAs for group × time × prior current drug use were significant, with drug using adolescents receiving parent print messages showing less alcohol initiation and frequency, and marijuana initiation and frequency (p's<.05). Very brief print materials sent to parents/caregivers may hold some promise for influencing substance use among adolescents, particularly those already using drugs.

Alcohol self-control behaviors of adolescents.

PURPOSE: The aims of the present study were to: (1) factor analyze a 13-item adolescent alcohol self-control behavior scale, (2) examine associations between frequency of self-control behavior use and alcohol consumption, and (3) to determine which self-control behaviors best predict alcohol use and consequences. METHODS: A confidential standardized survey was used to collect data on participant's 30-day frequency, quantity, and heavy use of alcohol; alcohol-related consequences; and alcohol self-control behaviors. RESULTS: A principal component factor analysis produced the following three components: Healthy Alternatives (alpha=.81), Self-regulation (alpha=.72), and Assertive Communication (alpha=.73). MANOVAs indicated strong associations between frequency of use of the three types of self-control behaviors and alcohol consumption (p values< or =.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that Self-regulation behaviors were the best predictor for all alcohol use measures and consequences (p values< or =.001). CONCLUSION: Self-control behaviors differ in their ability to predict alcohol use and consequences. Self-regulation strategies emerged as the most consistent predictor of alcohol use patterns and consequences among adolescents, followed by Healthy Alternatives.

The Behavior-Image Model: a paradigm for integrating prevention and health promotion in brief interventions.

This paper describes the Behavior-Image Model (BIM), an emerging and innovative paradigm for planning brief interventions for adolescents that fuse the prevention of harmful behaviors with the promotion of healthy habits. We discuss the components of the BIM as a new paradigm for creating multiple behavior health interventions, as well as the empirical and conceptual underpinnings of the model, and present Project Sport as an illustration of how the BIM may be applied to construct a brief multi-behavior intervention. The BIM posits that selected salient images of others and ourselves may be used to cast gain- and loss-framed messages coupling and motivating health-promoting and health-risk behaviors within single interventions. This content in turn activates prototypes and future self-images through the processes of social and self-comparison, leading to improvements in risk and protective factors and subsequent change in targeted health-promoting and health-risk behaviors. Recommendations are offered for conducting future research integrating health-risk and health-promoting behaviors in both brief and non-brief interventions for adolescents and adults.

Translation as a function of modality: the potential of brief interventions.

The purpose of this article is to examine the potential of brief intervention (BI) as a modality for translating health behavior intervention research into practice. We discuss common definitions of BI, applications within common models of translation research, effects of BI on a range of health behaviors and across various populations, current and potential mechanisms, and uses for dissemination to practice. A number of advantages of BI suggest they are well suited for translating behavioral research. In addition, findings from 13 systematic reviews of BI effects show their potential versatility. Basic research on motivation, decision making, and persuasion may be applied to the design of BIs (Type 1 translation). Suggestions for translating BI research into practice are discussed (Type 2 translation). The article concludes that efforts to use BIs to translate research into practice are currently underdeveloped. Recommendations are provided for using BI in translating research into practice.

A multihealth behavior intervention integrating physical activity and substance use prevention for adolescents.

The primary purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of a brief, multi-health behavior intervention integrating physical activity and alcohol use prevention messages for high school-aged adolescents. A total of 604 participants, 335 9th and 269 11th grade students from a suburban high school in northeast Florida participated in this study. A randomized control trial was conducted with participants randomly assigned within grade levels to receive either a brief consultation and prescription with a mailed reinforcing follow-up flyer (Project SPORT) or a minimal intervention control consisting of a wellness brochure provided in school and a pamphlet about teen health and fitness mailed to the home. Differences between intervention groups were evaluated with a series of MANCOVA tests. Project SPORT participants demonstrated significant positive effects at 3-months postintervention for alcohol consumption, alcohol initiation behaviors, alcohol use risk and protective factors, drug use behaviors, and exercise habits, and at 12-months for alcohol use risk and protective factors, cigarette use, and cigarette initiation (p's < 0.05). A post hoc analysis examining interactions between past 30-day use of marijuana and/or cigarettes by treatment group indicates significant positive effects for drug using adolescents who received Project SPORT on alcohol consumption, drug use behaviors, and drug use initiation at 3-months, and for drug use behaviors and exercise habits at 12-months (p's < 0.05). A brief, 12-min one-on-one consultation integrating alcohol avoidance messages within those promoting fitness and other positive health behaviors holds promise for influencing adolescent alcohol and cigarette use and other health behaviors at posttreatment and 1 year later. Long-term sustained effects for cigarette and marijuana use, and both vigorous and moderate physical activity, were found among adolescents using marijuana and/or cigarettes prior to intervention.