Effects of a brief motivational intervention with college student drinkers

This study consisted of a randomized controlled trial of a I-session motiva tional intervention for college student binge drinkers. Sixty students who reported binge drinking 2 or more times id the past 30 days were randomly a ssigned to either a no-treatment control or a brief intervention group. The intervention provided students with feedback regarding personal consumptio n, perceived drinking norms, alcohol-related problems, situations associate d with heavy drinking, and alcohol expectancies. At 6-week follow-up, the b rief intervention group exhibited significant reductions on number of drink s consumed per week, number of times drinking alcohol in the past month, an d frequency of binge drinking in the past month. Estimates of typical stude nt drinking mediated these reductions. This study replicates earlier resear ch on the efficacy of brief interventions with college students and extends previous work regarding potential mechanisms of change.