Heavy Drinking
Conditions
Brief summary
The present study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and initial utility of a brief academic goal-relevant episodic future thinking (A-EFT) task among heavy college drinkers. First, the study attempts to extend the temporal reach of EFT interventions which have demonstrated immediate reductions in discounting, and alcohol demand. The current study utilized a longitudinal design to evaluate whether EFT can change drinking behavior outside the lab in heavy drinking college students. The two-group experimental design included an active control group, weekly booster contact, and 1-month follow-up. Second, this study seeks to investigate whether the process of engaging in EFT is sufficient to produce effects when cues are not presented during the decision-making task. Lastly, this study adds an academic goal-related focus to the EFT task based on previous research indicating that forming meaningful academic goals is protective against drinking and associated problems.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALAcademic Episodic Future Thinking
Brief Academic goal related EFT intervention involving desirable outcomes of current academic goals
OTHERVivid Memory Task
Matched for time control task involving recall of vivid memories of distinct events/actions from a children's story
Sponsors
University of Memphis
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 25 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Full-time Freshman/Sophomore Student * 2+ Recent heavy drinking episodes (4/5 standard drinks in one sitting for men/women)
Exclusion criteria
* Current or past substance abuse treatment * Current moderate/severe depressive symptoms
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Daily Drinking Questionnaire | Baseline | Indicate how many standard drinks were consumed on each day of a typical week in the past month |
| Alcohol-Related Consequences | Baseline | Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire - Indicate yes or no to experiencing each alcohol-related consequences in the past month |
| Alcohol Demand | Baseline | Alcohol Purchase Task - Indicate hypothetical alcohol purchase behavior at a variety of price points |
| Delayed Reward Discounting | Baseline | 5-Choice Minute Discounting task - Indicate preference for various choices of immediate small vs. larger delayed rewards |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Protective Behavioral Strategies | Baseline | Indicate frequency of use of each protective strategy on a 1-6 Likert-type scale (1 = Never, 6 = Always) |
| Academic Engagement | Baseline | Single item assessing time spent studying during the past week |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed