Is a very brief web-based intervention with focus on protective behavioral strategies efficacious in reducing impaired control over alcohol in undergraduates?

Impaired control (i.e., difficulty adhering to limits on alcohol use) prospectively predicts self-reported alcohol-related problems in undergraduates yet remains understudied. In particular, there is little evidence regarding whether brief interventions can reduce impaired control. An efficacious, very brief, web-based intervention focused on protective behavioral strategy (PBS) use may be well suited to reducing impaired control, but there is also little evidence regarding relationships between impaired control and PBS use. Data were analyzed from a randomized controlled trial of U.S. Tertiary Health Research Intervention via Email (Leeman et al., 2016) that yielded evidence of reduced weekly and peak alcohol use among undergraduates who drink heavily (N = 208). Multilevel models were tested to determine efficacy in reducing impaired control over alcohol use. The parent trial tested variants providing both direct (e.g., avoiding drinking games) and indirect (e.g., securing a designated driver) PBS, direct only or indirect only. Given this focus of the parent trial, self-reported PBS use was included in the model. U.S. Tertiary Health Research Intervention via Email did not significantly reduce impaired control over alcohol use compared to a control condition (p = .15-.96), and there was no significant main effect of time or interactions with time. However, direct and indirect PBS use was significantly inversely related to impaired control. An efficacious, very brief web-based intervention associated with decreased alcohol use did not decrease impaired control over alcohol significantly. More intensive, or longer, interventions may be needed to reduce impaired control. Greater PBS use was associated with less impaired control; thus, interventions that increase PBS use may decrease impaired control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).