Principal Investigator: William R. Miller, Ph.D.
Co-Investigators: Gina Agostinelli, Ph.D., Patricia Juárez, M.S.
Funding Agency: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Following basic research on perceptions of drinking norms (Agostinelli et al., 1994), we conducted a small trial of the effects of normative feedback on alcohol use among heavy drinking college students (Agostinelli et al., 1995). Students were assigned at random to receive or not receive mailed feedback about their own level of alcohol use, relative to national college norms. Those who received feedback showed significantly greater reduction in alcohol use, relative to the control group without feedback.
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) involves a combination of motivational interviewing (MI) and personal assessment feedback. This suggests the possibility of evaluating the relative contributions of feedback and MI to behavior change. In her master's thesis, Patricia Juarez randomly assigned heavier drinking college students to receive: (1) MI only; (2) mailed feedback only; (3) MI plus mailed feedback; (4) MI plus in-session personal feedback; or (5) neither feedback nor MI (control group). All groups showed significant reduction in drinking at semester end, with no significant effect of MI, and a modest effect of feedback.
References:
Co-Investigators: Gina Agostinelli, Ph.D., Patricia Juárez, M.S.
Funding Agency: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Following basic research on perceptions of drinking norms (Agostinelli et al., 1994), we conducted a small trial of the effects of normative feedback on alcohol use among heavy drinking college students (Agostinelli et al., 1995). Students were assigned at random to receive or not receive mailed feedback about their own level of alcohol use, relative to national college norms. Those who received feedback showed significantly greater reduction in alcohol use, relative to the control group without feedback.
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) involves a combination of motivational interviewing (MI) and personal assessment feedback. This suggests the possibility of evaluating the relative contributions of feedback and MI to behavior change. In her master's thesis, Patricia Juarez randomly assigned heavier drinking college students to receive: (1) MI only; (2) mailed feedback only; (3) MI plus mailed feedback; (4) MI plus in-session personal feedback; or (5) neither feedback nor MI (control group). All groups showed significant reduction in drinking at semester end, with no significant effect of MI, and a modest effect of feedback.
References:
- Agostinelli, G., & Miller, W. R. (1994). Drinking and thinking: How does personal drinking affect judgments of prevalence and riskiness? Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 55, 327-337.
- Agostinelli, G., Brown, J. M., & Miller, W. R. (1995). Effects of normative feedback on consumption among heavy drinking college students. Journal of Drug Education, 25, 31-40.
- Juárez, P. (2001). A randomized trial of motivational interviewing and feedback with heavy drinking college students. Master's thesis, University of New Mexico.
