Promoting Maintenance of Change Following Brief Intervention for Alcohol Use
Status
Begins enrollment in 6 months
Conditions
Alcohol Drinking in College
Treatments
Behavioral: Parent handbook
Behavioral: Problem-solving risky situations
Behavioral: Coping with negative emotions
Behavioral: Recovering from slips
Details and patient eligibility
About
All students who enroll in the study will receive an efficacious counselor-delivered brief motivational intervention. The intervention is based in principles of motivational interviewing. Students complete a baseline assessment on their alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences. During the hour-long session, the counselor uses information from the baseline assessment to compare the student's level of alcohol consumption to that of peers at the same university, discuss choices that may lead to experiencing negative consequences, and provide opportunities for the student to set goals for risk reduction.
This study will develop and pilot a maintenance enhancement intervention. The intervention is expected to consist of four components, for example: (1) Student participants may learn to use techniques based in mindfulness to cope with negative emotions. (2) Student participants may identify barriers to reducing their alcohol use and identify protective strategies for navigating those barriers. (3) Student participants may be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students may also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode. (4) Parents may also receive a handbook encouraging communication with their student about alcohol use.
Enrollment
160 estimated patients
Sex
All
Ages
18+ years old
Volunteers
No Healthy Volunteers
Inclusion criteria
Student participants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Currently enrolled student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
- First time violator of the university alcohol policy
- Mandated to complete the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention of College Students (BASICS) intervention
- Minimum age 18
Parent participants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
• The parent or guardian of students who meet all of the student participant criteria
Exclusion criteria
• None.
Trial design
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Interventional model
Factorial Assignment
Masking
None (Open label)
160 participants in 16 patient groups
Coping with emotions, Parent handbook, Problem-solving risky situations, and Recovering from slips
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will learn to use techniques based in mindfulness as a means for coping with negative emotions. The participants' parent(s) will also receive a handbook that encourages communication with their child about alcohol use. Participants will be prompted to identify both barriers to reducing their alcohol use and protective strategies for navigating those barriers. To improve their confidence to resume moderate drinking after having a heavy drinking episode, participants will be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students will also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Recovering from slips
Behavioral: Coping with negative emotions
Behavioral: Problem-solving risky situations
Behavioral: Parent handbook
Coping with negative emotions, Parent handbook , and Problem-solving for risky situations
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will learn to use techniques based in mindfulness as a means for coping with negative emotions. The participants' parent(s) will also receive a handbook that encourages communication with their child about alcohol use. Participants will be prompted to identify both barriers to reducing their alcohol use and protective strategies for navigating those barriers.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Coping with negative emotions
Behavioral: Problem-solving risky situations
Behavioral: Parent handbook
Coping with negative emotions, Parent handbook , and Recovering from slips
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will learn to use techniques based in mindfulness as a means for coping with negative emotions. The participants' parent(s) will also receive a handbook that encourages communication with their child about alcohol use. To improve their confidence to resume moderate drinking after having a heavy drinking episode, participants will be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students will also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Recovering from slips
Behavioral: Coping with negative emotions
Behavioral: Parent handbook
Coping with negative emotions and Parent handbook
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will learn to use techniques based in mindfulness as a means for coping with negative emotions. The participants' parent(s) will also receive a handbook that encourages communication with their child about alcohol use.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Coping with negative emotions
Behavioral: Parent handbook
Coping with negative emotions, Problem-solving for risky situations , and Recovering from slips
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will learn to use techniques based in mindfulness as a means for coping with negative emotions. Participants will be prompted to identify both barriers to reducing their alcohol use and protective strategies for navigating those barriers. To improve their confidence to resume moderate drinking after having a heavy drinking episode, participants will be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students will also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Recovering from slips
Behavioral: Coping with negative emotions
Behavioral: Problem-solving risky situations
Coping with negative emotions and Problem-solving for risky situations
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will learn to use techniques based in mindfulness as a means for coping with negative emotions. Participants will be prompted to identify both barriers to reducing their alcohol use and protective strategies for navigating those barriers.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Coping with negative emotions
Behavioral: Problem-solving risky situations
Coping with negative emotions and Recovering from slips
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will learn to use techniques based in mindfulness as a means for coping with negative emotions. To improve their confidence to resume moderate drinking after having a heavy drinking episode, participants will be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students will also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Recovering from slips
Behavioral: Coping with negative emotions
Coping with negative emotions
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will learn to use techniques based in mindfulness as a means for coping with negative emotions.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Coping with negative emotions
Parent handbook , Problem-solving for risky situations , and Recovering from slips
Active Comparator group
Description:
The participants' parent(s) will receive a handbook that encourages communication with their child about alcohol use. Participants will be prompted to identify both barriers to reducing their alcohol use and protective strategies for navigating those barriers. To improve their confidence to resume moderate drinking after having a heavy drinking episode, participants will be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students will also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Recovering from slips
Behavioral: Problem-solving risky situations
Behavioral: Parent handbook
Parent handbook and Problem-solving for risky situations
Active Comparator group
Description:
The participants' parent(s) will receive a handbook that encourages communication with their child about alcohol use. Participants will be prompted to identify both barriers to reducing their alcohol use and protective strategies for navigating those barriers. To improve their confidence to resume moderate drinking after having a heavy drinking episode, participants will be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students will also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Problem-solving risky situations
Behavioral: Parent handbook
Parent handbook and Recovering from slips
Active Comparator group
Description:
The participants' parent(s) will receive a handbook that encourages communication with their child about alcohol use. To improve their confidence to resume moderate drinking after having a heavy drinking episode, participants will be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students will also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Recovering from slips
Behavioral: Parent handbook
Parent handbook
Active Comparator group
Description:
The participants' parent(s) will receive a handbook that encourages communication with their child about alcohol use.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Parent handbook
Problem-solving for risky situations and Recovering from slips
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will be prompted to identify both barriers to reducing their alcohol use and protective strategies for navigating those barriers. To improve their confidence to resume moderate drinking after having a heavy drinking episode, participants will be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students will also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Recovering from slips
Behavioral: Problem-solving risky situations
Problem-solving for risky situations
Active Comparator group
Description:
Participants will be prompted to identify both barriers to reducing their alcohol use and protective strategies for navigating those barriers.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Problem-solving risky situations
Recovering from slips
Active Comparator group
Description:
To improve their confidence to resume moderate drinking after having a heavy drinking episode, participants will be presented with narratives from other students who successfully resumed moderate drinking after a heavy drinking episode. Students will also be prompted to identify alcohol free activities that they enjoy and can engage in after experiencing a heavy drinking episode.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Recovering from slips
Assessment only control condition
No Intervention group
Description:
Participants in this condition will complete assessments but will not receive any additional intervention content.
Trial contacts and locations
0
Loading...
Central trial contact
Allecia Reid, PhD
Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov
Clinical trials
Research sites
Resources
Legal
© Copyright 2026 Veeva Systems