PROGRAM REDUCED DRINKING AMONG 'HIGH RISK' STUDENTS AT U. OF WASHINGTON,
STUDY FINDS

A "non-confrontational" intervention program decreased drinking and reduced
the number of alcohol-related problems among high-risk students over the
course of their undergraduate careers, according to a study that will be
published this month in the American Journal of Public Health.

The study, financed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism, tracked the drinking habits of 363 students at the University
of Washington over four years. Students were recruited for the study as
freshmen, and participants were deemed high-risk if they reported drinking
at least once per month and had consumed at least five drinks on one
occasion in the previous month, prior to enrollment. A student who had
experienced at least three alcohol-related problems -- including sleeping
in class, fighting, or doing poorly on an exam -- three times during the
previous three years was also considered high-risk.

During their first year, half of the high-risk drinkers participated in
Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students, a program
consisting of a one-on-one assessment interview and a follow-up interview
three months later. During the interviews, students received information
about alcohol and the consequences of binge drinking, and were told how
their own drinking habits compared with those of their peers. But there
were no "scare tactics" involved, according to John S. Baer, research
associate professor of psychology at the University of Washington and one
of the authors of the study.

"The tone and style was of a motivational interview," Mr. Baer said. "We
used open-ended questions to help interviewees explore their own thoughts
and feelings. We tried to facilitate their thinking about their own
choices, rather than telling them what to do."

There were two control groups in the study: one consisted of high-risk
drinkers; the other of students recruited at random from the freshman
class. Students in the control groups did not take part in the interviews.
All students participating in the study then responded to annual
questionnaires about their alcohol use.

After four years, researchers found that while the drinking frequency among
the randomly selected students generally remained stable, the amount of
alcohol consumed by high-risk students who had the interviews steadily
declined. Furthermore, 43 percent of the high-risk drinkers who had the
interviews reported a decrease in alcohol-related problems, compared with
33 percent of high-risk drinkers who did not receive the intervention.

Mr. Baer said he did not know why the intervention appeared to have a
long-term effect on the drinking habits of students, but he speculated that
the personal interviews prompted them to examine their behavior in a way
that lectures or hand-outs did not.

"We found the students to be quite comfortable with this approach once they
understood that it would not be a repeat of the lectures they heard in high
school, and that the interviewer would not be criticizing or judging," Mr.
Baer said.