Using media to explore mechanisms of behavior change among college students

描述(申请人提供)：大学生中与药物使用相关的伤害仍然是一个与发病率和死亡率有关的重要全国性问题。以前的研究已经确定了有效的物质使用筛查工具和从事物质使用的多个风险因素。尽管投入了大量资源用于这些努力，但大学校园的饮酒和伤害率并没有下降。目前，在将行为模式因素转化为有效的干预措施以减少大学生物质使用方面存在差距。我们的长期目标是利用社交网站(SNS)来识别大学生的物质使用情况，并提供可行的、可扩展的和有针对性的干预措施。然而，在这种干预措施可以发生之前，有必要进一步评估SNSS作为识别物质使用的工具和行为改变机制中的调解人的作用。约97%的本科生表示，他们拥有Facebook个人资料，并经常展示有关使用药物的信息。因此，这些参照物既是大学生创造的，也是大学生消费的，并可能在调节行为方面发挥关键作用。本申请的目的是测试FB作为物质使用识别工具的预测价值，评估FB作为行为改变的中介的临时模型，并探索FB作为靶向干预工具的方法。我们的中心假设是，在FB上显示的物质使用行为将是识别物质使用的高度敏感的工具，以及与物质使用相关的行为改变的中介。这项拟议的研究将确定来自威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校和华盛顿大学的600名大学新生的初始队列。新生将通过电子邮件和电话招聘；同意的参与者将在Facebook(FB)上被“加为好友”。数据收集将包括每月对FB个人资料进行的物质使用评估。我们将使用新技术测量物质使用行为，每两年进行一次访谈，并每年进行一次访谈，以评估我们的FB作为社会传播行为机制的中介的临时模型。在显示指示行为改变的物质使用参考的参与者中，当参考在FB上被确定时，我们将使用新技术进行额外的访谈，以调查FB在行为改变中作为中介的角色。我们还将组织焦点小组，探讨FB作为干预工具的可行性和障碍。使用FB作为我们的实验室，参与者的自我报告作为我们的实地工作，我们将确定FB作为识别物质使用的工具的角色，并测试FB作为行为改变的中介的临时模型。鉴于FB在大学生中的流行和无处不在，这一高度创新的工具有潜力提高大学提供可行、可扩展和有针对性的干预措施的能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Substance use-related harm among college students remains an important national problem associated with both morbidity and mortality. Previous research has identified validated screening instruments for substance use and multiple risk factors for engaging in substance use. Despite significant resources devoted to these efforts, alcohol use and harm rates on college campuses have not decreased. At present, a gap exists in translating factors from behavioral models into effective interventions to reduce substance use among college students. Our long-term goal is to use social networking web sites (SNSs) to identify substance use in college students and provide feasible, scalable and targeted interventions. Before such interventions can take place, however, further evaluation regarding SNSs as an instrument for identifying substance use and as a mediator within mechanisms of behavior change is warranted. Approximately 97 percent of undergraduates report ownership of a Facebook (FB) profile and display of references to substance use is common. These references are therefore both created and consumed by college students, and may play a key role in mediating behavior. The objective of this application is to test the predictive value of FB as a substance use identification tool, evaluate a provisional model of FB as a mediator of behavior change, and explore methods by which FB can be used as a targeted intervention tool. Our central hypothesis is that displayed substance use behavior on FB will be a highly sensitive tool for the identification of substance use as well as a mediator for behavior change related to substance use. The proposed study will identify an inception cohort of 600 college freshmen from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Washington. Incoming freshmen will be recruited via email and phone; consented participants will be "friended" on Facebook (FB). Data collection will include monthly FB profile evaluation for substance use. We will conduct biyearly interviews using new technology measuring substance use behaviors, and yearly interviews to evaluate our provisional model of FB as a mediator in behavior mechanisms of social transmission. Among participants who display substance use references indicating behavior change, at the time the reference is identified on FB we will conduct an additional interview using new technology to investigate the role of FB as a mediator in the behavior change. We will also conduct focus groups to explore the feasibility of and barriers to FB as an intervention tool. Using FB as our laboratory and participant self-report as our field work we will determine the role of FB as an instrument for identifying substance use and test a provisional model of FB as a mediator in behavior change. Given the popularity and ubiquity of FB among the college population, this highly innovative tool has potential to improve universities' capacity to provide interventions that are feasible, scalable and targeted.