Trial reportJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2016
A multisite randomized trial of normative feedback for heavy drinking: Social comparison versus social comparison plus correction of normative misperceptions.
Trial report in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 3 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
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials examining social comparison as a behaviour change technique across the behavioural sciences.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- The efficacy of Personalized Normative Feedback interventions across addictions: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Examining the longer-term efficacy of brief, alcohol-focused personalized feedback interventions for individuals with internalizing distress: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Trial
- Efficacy of counter-attitudinal advocacy and personalized feedback for heavy-drinking college students.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2025Trial
- Examining engagement effects in an adaptive preventive intervention for college student drinking.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2023Trial
- Personalized normative feedback for hazardous drinking among college women: Differential outcomes by history of incapacitated rape.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2023Trial
- Integrating social media inspired features into a personalized normative feedback intervention combats social media-based alcohol influence.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Trial
- Effects of a Brief Web-Based "Social Norms"-Intervention on Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Use Among German University Students: Results of a Cluster-Controlled Trial Conducted at Eight Universities.Frontiers in public health · 2021Trial
- A randomized controlled trial study of the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary impact of SITA (SMS as an Incentive To Adhere): a mobile technology-based intervention informed by behavioral economics to improve ART adherence among youth in Uganda.BMC infectious diseases · 2020Trial
- Online personalized normative feedback intervention to reduce event-specific drinking during Mardi Gras.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2019Trial
- Drinking to cope moderates the efficacy of changing veteran drinking norms as a strategy for reducing drinking and alcohol-related problems among U.S. veterans.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2018Trial
- Article
- Beyond mediators: A critical review and methodological path forward for studying mechanisms in alcohol use treatment research.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2024Review
- Strengthening personalized norm feedback interventions: The ambivalent-attitude effect.Addictive behaviors reports · 2022Article
- Leveraging dynamic norms to reduce alcohol use among college students: A proof-of-concept experimental study.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2021Article
- Finding the Right Balance: A Social Norms Intervention to Reduce Heavy Drinking in University Students.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Lessons learned from a mobile technology-based intervention informed by behavioral economics to improve ART adherence among youth in Uganda.AIDS care · 2020Article
- Cognitive factors and addiction.Current opinion in psychology · 2019Review
- Adolescent Tobacco Use and Misperceptions of Social Norms Across Schools in the United States.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveGiven widespread alcohol misuse among college students, numerous intervention programs have been developed, including personalized normative feedback (PNF). Most research evaluating PNF assumes that presenting one's own perceived norms is necessary to correct normative misperceptions and thereby reduce drinking. Alternatively, simply providing social comparison information showing that one drinks more than others may be sufficient. The present study evaluated the efficacy of full PNF (one's own drinking, campus drinking rates, and perceived norms) and a partial personalized social comparison feedback (PSCF; one's own drinking and campus drinking rates) in a randomized trial among heavy-drinking college students.
methodParticipants included 623 heavy-drinking students from 3 universities. Assessments occurred at baseline and 3- and 6-months postbaseline.
resultsPrimary analyses examined differences across 4 drinking outcomes (drinks per week, total drinks past month, frequency of past month drinking, and negative alcohol-related consequences) at 3- and 6-month follow-ups controlling for the baseline variable. Results revealed significant reductions across all alcohol consumption outcomes at 3 months in both intervention conditions compared to attention-control. Mediation analyses demonstrated significant indirect effects of the intervention on 6-month drinking through changes in perceived norms at 3 months. Moreover, evidence emerged for changes in drinking at 3 months as a mediator of the association between PSCF and 6-month perceived norms.
conclusionsThe present research suggests PNF may not require explicit consideration of one's perceived norms to be effective and that direct social comparison provides an alternative theoretical mechanism for PNF efficacy.
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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.