SynthesisJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2014
Efficacy of alcohol interventions for first-year college students: a meta-analytic review of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 98 papers, 6 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
98 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 196 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of forming implementation intentions on alcohol consumption: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Drug and alcohol review · 2023Pooled it
- Treatment-As-Usual Control Groups in Brief Alcohol Intervention Trials: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2022Pooled it
- A Systematic Umbrella Review on the Epidemiology of Modifiable Health Influencing Factors and on Health Promoting Interventions Among University Students.Frontiers in public health · 2020Pooled it
- Meta-analytic review of dissonance-based eating disorder prevention programs: Intervention, participant, and facilitator features that predict larger effects.Clinical psychology review · 2019Pooled it
- Alcohol interventions for mandated college students: A meta-analytic review.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2016Pooled it
- Interventions to reduce college student drinking: State of the evidence for mechanisms of behavior change.Clinical psychology review · 2015Pooled it
- Efficacy of counter-attitudinal advocacy and personalized feedback for heavy-drinking college students.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2025Trial
- Is a very brief web-based intervention with focus on protective behavioral strategies efficacious in reducing impaired control over alcohol in undergraduates?Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Using intervention mapping to evaluate 'High-Alert,' a brief smartphone intervention to reduce youth cannabis-impaired driving.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Examining engagement effects in an adaptive preventive intervention for college student drinking.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2023Trial
- "Letting Go and Staying Connected": Substance Use Outcomes from a Developmentally Targeted Intervention for Parents of College Students.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2023Trial
- Motivational interviewing for family planning and reducing risky sexual behavior among incarcerated men nearing release: A randomized controlled pilot study.Psychological services · 2023Trial
- Delivery of a Prevention Program in Large College Classes: Effectiveness of the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum.Substance use & misuse · 2023Trial
- Effective prevention programming for reducing alcohol-related harms experienced by first year college students: Evaluation of the expectancy challenge alcohol literacy curriculum (ECALC).Addictive behaviors · 2022Trial
- A randomized controlled trial of a web-based personalized feedback intervention targeting frequent indoor tanning bed users: Engagement, acceptability, and preliminary behavioral outcomes.Journal of health psychology · 2022Trial
- Motivational interviewing to reduce risky sexual behaviors among at-risk male youth: A randomized controlled pilot study.Psychological services · 2022Trial
- Main outcomes of M-bridge: A sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART) for developing an adaptive preventive intervention for college drinking.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2021Trial
- Trial
- A randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of a brief alcohol intervention supplemented with a substance-free activity session or relaxation training.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2019Trial
- Testing an Online, Theory-Based Intervention to Reduce Pre-drinking Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol-Related Harm in Undergraduates: a Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2018Trial
38 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
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveAlcohol use established during the first-year of college can result in adverse consequences during the college years and beyond. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the efficacy of interventions to prevent alcohol misuse by first-year college students.
methodStudies were included if the study reported an individual- or group-level intervention using a randomized controlled trial, targeted 1st-year college students, and assessed alcohol use. Forty-one studies with 62 separate interventions (N = 24,294; 57% women; 77% White) were included. Independent raters coded sample, design, methodological features, and intervention content. Weighted mean effect sizes, using fixed- and random-effects models, were calculated. Potential moderators, determined a priori, were examined to explain variability in effect sizes.
resultsRelative to controls, students receiving an intervention reported lower quantity and frequency of drinking and fewer problems (d(+)s = 0.07-0.14). These results were more pronounced when the interventions were compared with an assessment-only control group (d(+)s = 0.11-0.19). Intervention content (e.g., personalized feedback) moderated the efficacy of the intervention.
conclusionsBehavioral interventions for 1st-year college students reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Interventions that include personalized feedback, moderation strategies, expectancy challenge, identification of risky situations, and goal-setting optimize efficacy. Strategies to prevent alcohol misuse among first-year students are recommended.
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.