An Incentive Approach to Reduce Alcohol Abuse At Parties

描述(申请人提供)：这项为期两年的研究计划延续了我们十多年来减少大学生酗酒的努力。我们测试了各种理论驱动的干预措施，包括a)教育学生高估同伴饮酒规范，b)向兄弟会聚会的东道主教授服务器干预，c)在聚会环境中提供BAC反馈，d)在兄弟会聚会的摊位上配备人员，以说明过度饮酒的负面后果，以及e)教经常参加派对的人他们可以用来对自己和他人使用的简单性能游戏，以估计他们是否太过虚弱而不能开车。尽管其中一些干预措施影响了自我报告的酒精消耗量的显著减少和随之而来的负面结果，但没有任何干预措施影响派对上实际血液酒精浓度(BAC)的显著下降。这项拟议的研究采取了一种完全不同的、直截了当的方法来减少兄弟会聚会上的过度饮酒。我们基于强化和控制饮酒理论对这种方法进行了初步测试，结果显示效果显著。具体地说，我们建议全面测试的激励/奖励技术显著降低了两个兄弟会聚会的平均BAC，分别为0.063(n=86)和0.056(n=91)，而同一兄弟会先前举办的两个聚会的基线平均数分别为0.092(n=96)和.102(n=83)。此外，激励/奖励干预措施将合法醉酒(BAC等于或大于0.08)的派对常客数量从两个基准方的52人(54.2%)和52人(62.7%)减少到两个干预方的26人(30.2%)和20人(22%)。激励/奖励干预只是让参加派对的人进入100美元的现金抽奖，如果他或她的BAC(在晚上11：30到12：30之间)低于0.05。前测-后测小组随机试验方法(Murray，1998)被提出，以证明特定的干预方案将在一些随机选择的兄弟会中有效。这项拟议的研究还评估了反复暴露于BAC低于0.05的激励/奖励应急措施的政党是否可以改变有关聚会饮酒的社会规范，并导致兄弟会聚会长期保持较低的醉酒水平。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This two-year research proposal continues our attempts for over a decade to reduce alcohol abuse among university students. We have tested a variety of theory-driven interventions, including a) educating students about their overestimation of peer drinking norms, b) teaching server intervention to the hosts of fraternity parties, c) providing BAC feedback in party settings, d) manning booths at fraternity parties to illustrate negative consequences of excessive alcohol consumption, and e) teaching partygoers simple performance games they can use on themselves and others to estimate whether they are too impaired to drive. Although some of these interventions influenced a significant reduction in self-reported alcohol consumption and concomitant negative outcomes, none influenced a significant reduction in actual blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at parties. The proposed research takes a completely different and straightforward approach to reducing excessive alcohol consumption at fraternity parties. Our pilot testing of this approach, based on theories of reinforcement and controlled drinking, showed remarkable effects. Specifically, the incentive/reward technique we propose to test comprehensively reduced mean BAC at two fraternity parties significantly to .063 (n=86) and .056 (n=91), respectively from baseline means of .092 (n=96) and .102 (n=83) at two prior parties held by the same fraternity. Moreover, the incentive/reward intervention reduced the number of partygoers who were legally drunk (BAC equal to or greater than .08) from 52 (54.2 percent) and 52(62.7 percent) at the two baseline parties to 26 (30.2 percent) and 20 (22 percent) at the two intervention parties. The incentive/reward intervention simply enabled partygoers to enter a $100 cash raffle if his or her BAC, measured between the hours of 11:30pm and 12:30am, was below .05. Pretest-posttest group randomized trial methodology (Murray, 1998) is proposed to demonstrate that a particular intervention package will be effective across a number of randomly selected fraternities. The proposed research also evaluates whether repeated exposures to parties with an incentive/reward contingency to hold BAC below .05 can change social norms with regard to party drinking and lead to long-term maintenance of lowered intoxication at fraternity parties.