PILOT--USE OF WEB-BASED SCREENING / INTERACTIVE COUNSEL

Boston University Medical Campus, Boston MA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Hazardous drinking and its serious consequences are common in college students. Brief individual motivational interventions, environmental strategies, and community-level interventions are effective for decreasing drinking and consequences. Valid screening tests can identify college students at risk for, as well as those already experiencing, consequences. But effective strategies have not been widely disseminated. College students have access to computers and are familiar with receiving electronic communications and using the web for health assessments. Web-based universal screening for hazardous drinking by college students could improve the dissemination of alcohol screening and brief intervention for this high-risk group. Therefore, this pilot study aims to test the feasibility of electronic mail recruitment and web screening for alcohol problems. To do so, 4300 freshman adult college students will be randomized to receive an electronic mail request to complete a web alcohol screening test, or a regular mail request to complete a paper alcohol screening test. The primary outcome is the proportion of respondents who complete alcohol screening. The results of this pilot study will provide information useful to 1) colleges deciding how best to implement universal screening for hazardous alcohol use, and 2) in the preparation of a larger study of web-based screening and brief intervention for hazardous drinking in college students.