Online Intervention to Prevent Risky Behaviors During College Student Study Abroad Experiences

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Project Summary/Abstract The current project aims to broaden the reach of brief alcohol interventions to young adults at risk for heavy and problematic alcohol use abroad by testing an online intervention for study abroad students, an at-risk population currently lacking empirically-supported intervention. Although studying abroad represents an opportunity for cultural, personal, and academic growth that is experienced by over 304,000 U.S. students annually, students more than double their alcohol consumption while abroad, experience a host of consequences that can affect their time abroad and have damaging implications for themselves and their home institutions, and are at-risk for continued heavy drinking upon return home. Problematic drinking by study abroad students is a significant and unaddressed problem. Student affairs personnel working with study abroad students report that heavy drinking abroad is their biggest concern and they identify the lack of empirically-supported approaches for these students as a major unmet need. With increasing numbers of students enrolling in study abroad programs each year, and a growing concern about their high-risk behavior, there is a need to demonstrate support for preventive alcohol misuse programs for these students. Our pilot work with 343 students at one institution established preliminary efficacy for a personalized normative feedback (PNF) intervention targeting perceptions of alcohol use by other study abroad peers and local residents of one’s host country. Yet, heavier drinkers abroad warranted an additional intervention component based on the unique risks within the specific study abroad environment. In the pilot, students who received PNF enhanced with sojourner adjustment feedback (SAF) that promoted engagement with the cultural experience abroad and addressed difficulties adjusting to life in the foreign environment drank less and experienced fewer alcohol-related consequences abroad. In the proposed randomized controlled trial, we seek to apply updated research, theory, and feedback from students to enhance our intervention content and expand the testing of the combined PNF and SAF intervention to 1,200 participants from 35 universities and colleges in the U.S. We will compare students in the intervention condition to those in a control condition on drinking, consequences, and sexual risk outcomes, the latter of which are strikingly common among study abroad students and have the potential for lasting physical and psychological effects upon return home. This research represents an important step toward preventing problematic drinking for students entering into this period of known risk. This study has potential for great impact, as we will collaborate with the Forum on Education Abroad—a collaboration among 800 U.S. and foreign institutions—to disseminate findings and implement the intervention across multiple institutions in need of empirically-based pre-departure programs. Methodologies and intervention content tested in this study can lead to future research and programming with other groups of Americans in need of programs addressing drinking and other risky behaviors while abroad.