Trial reportJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2012
A randomized controlled trial of a behavioral economic supplement to brief motivational interventions for college drinking.
Trial report in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 164 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Examining Motivations for and Quality of Alcohol and Marijuana Protective Behavior Strategy Use: Improving Prevention of Hazardous Young Adult Substance Use
Digital Motivational Behavioral Economic Intervention to Reduce Risky Drinking Among Community-Dwelling Emerging Adults
Who cites it
164 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 252 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health behaviour interventions to improve mental health outcomes for students in the university setting: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of the associations between protective behavioral strategies and heavy alcohol consumption and consequences among young adults.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2024Pooled it
- Delay discounting and substance use treatment outcomes: A systematic review focused on treatment outcomes and discounting methodology.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2023Pooled it
- Do interventions principally targeting excessive alcohol use in young people improve depression symptoms?: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Behavioral trainings and manipulations to reduce delay discounting: A systematic review.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2019Pooled it
- Measurement of substance-free reinforcement in addiction: A systematic review.Clinical psychology review · 2019Pooled it
- Brief Motivational Interventions Are Associated with Reductions in Alcohol-Induced Blackouts Among Heavy Drinking College Students.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2019Pooled it
- Effects of behavioural activation on substance use and depression: a systematic review.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2018Pooled it
- Motivational interviewing for the prevention of alcohol misuse in young adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Interventions to reduce college student drinking: State of the evidence for mechanisms of behavior change.Clinical psychology review · 2015Pooled it
- The impact of elevated posttraumatic stress on the efficacy of brief alcohol interventions for heavy drinking college students.Addictive behaviors · 2013Pooled it
- Examining executive functioning: A randomized controlled trial of alcohol misuse interventions for college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2026Trial
- How people decide to consume (more) alcohol when feeling stressed.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Trial
- A pilot randomized controlled trial of Kisoboka, a behavioral economic and motivational interviewing intervention to reduce high-risk alcohol use and improve antiretroviral therapy adherence for men in Uganda.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Trial
- Protective behavioral strategies and alcohol consequences following a group-based motivational intervention for young adults experiencing homelessness.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2025Trial
- A randomized pilot trial of two forms of behavioral economics intervention to improve engagement in buprenorphine-naloxone treatment among patients with opioid use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Trial
- Text message-delivered cannabis use disorder treatment with young adults: A large randomized clinical trial.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Trial
- Role of relative-reinforcement value of alcohol-free activities during recovery from alcohol use disorder in an adult clinical sample.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2024Trial
- Individualized treatment effects of a digital alcohol intervention and their associations with participant characteristics and engagement.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2024Trial
- A pilot trial of a brief intervention for cannabis use supplemented with a substance-free activity session or relaxation training.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2024Trial
104 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveBehavioral economic theory suggests that a reduction in substance use is most likely when there is an increase in rewarding substance-free activities. The goal of this randomized controlled clinical trial was to evaluate the incremental efficacy of a novel behavioral economic supplement (Substance-Free Activity Session [SFAS]) to a standard alcohol brief motivational interviewing (BMI) session for heavy-drinking college students.
methodParticipants were 82 first-year college students (50% female; 81.7% White/European American; M age = 18.5 years, SD = 0.71) who reported 2 or more past-month heavy drinking episodes. After completing a baseline assessment and an individual alcohol-focused BMI, participants were randomized to either the SFAS or to a Relaxation Training (RT) control session. The SFAS was delivered in an MI style and attempted to increase the salience of delayed academic and career rewards and the patterns of behavior leading to those rewards.
resultsThe combination of an alcohol BMI plus the SFAS was associated with significantly greater reductions in alcohol problems compared with an alcohol BMI plus RT at the 1-month and 6-month follow-up assessments (p = .015, ηp² = .07), an effect that was partially mediated by increases in protective behavioral strategies. BMI + SFAS was also associated with greater reductions in heavy drinking among participants who at baseline reported low levels of substance-free reinforcement or symptoms of depression.
conclusionThese results are consistent with behavioral economic theory and suggest that a single session focused on increasing engagement in alternatives to drinking can enhance the effects of brief alcohol interventions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.