Trial reportJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2019
A randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of a brief alcohol intervention supplemented with a substance-free activity session or relaxation training.
Trial report in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05443750 (Digital Motivational Behavioral Economic Intervention to Reduce Risky Drinking Among Community-Dwelling Emerging Adults), which is not on this map. Cited by 87 papers, 5 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.
Digital Motivational Behavioral Economic Intervention to Reduce Risky Drinking Among Community-Dwelling Emerging Adults
Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 131 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 Literature Review of Substance-Use Prevention Programs Amongst Refugee Youth.Community mental health journal · 2024Pooled it
- Brief Alcohol Interventions are Effective through 6 Months: Findings from Marginalized Zero-inflated Poisson and Negative Binomial Models in a Two-step IPD Meta-analysis.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 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
- Effects of Brief Interventions on Internalizing Symptoms and Substance Use in Youth: A Systematic Review.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2022Pooled it
- Engagement in alcohol-free activities, community-level economic disadvantage, and heavy drinking following alcohol treatment.Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior · 2026Trial
- 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
- 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
- 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
- A randomized pilot trial of a mobile delivered brief motivational interviewing and behavioral economic alcohol intervention for emerging adults.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Genetically influenced externalizing and internalizing risk pathways as novel prevention targets.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2022Trial
- Motivational interviewing plus behavioral activation for alcohol misuse in college students with ADHD.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2021Trial
- Enhanced Brief Motivational Intervention for College Student Drinkers With ADHD: Goal-Directed Activation as a Mechanism of Change.Behavior therapy · 2021Trial
- An Examination of the Longer-Term Impact of a Combined Classroom and Parental Intervention on Alcohol-Related Harms and Heavy Episodic Drinking.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2021Trial
- Alcohol demand moderates brief motivational intervention outcomes in underage young adult drinkers.Addictive behaviors · 2019Trial
- A behavioral economics substance-free activity session (SFAS) approach to reducing substance use: Narrative review and intervention manual.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- "Guide them to have a future orientation": qualitative findings in developing a reinforcement-based intervention to address alcohol use with American Indian emerging adults.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Utility of substance-free alternatives in treating and preventing harmful substance use: A narrative review of the translational research spectrum.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Review
- The sleep-anxiety dysregulation model of alcohol use disorder risk: A nine-year longitudinal machine learning study.Journal of affective disorders · 2025Review
27 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
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveBehavioral economic theory suggests that a reduction in alcohol use is most likely when there is an increase in rewarding substance-free activities. Anxiety has also been linked to heavy drinking, and strategies to reduce anxiety may enhance alcohol interventions. The goal of this 2-site randomized controlled clinical trial was to evaluate the efficacy of a brief alcohol intervention that was supplemented with either a behavioral economic substance-free activity session (SFAS) or a relaxation training (Relaxation training [RT]) session.
methodParticipants were 393 college students (61% female, mean age = 18.77 years) who reported 2 or more past-month heavy drinking episodes. Participants were randomized to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) assessment; (b) alcohol brief motivational intervention (BMI) plus SFAS; or (c) BMI plus RT. Both treatment conditions included 2 in-person sessions plus a phone booster session. Outcomes were evaluated 1-, 6-, 12-, and 16-months postintervention.
resultsGeneralized linear mixed models indicated that the combination of a BMI plus either the SFAS or RT was associated with significant reductions in alcohol use and problems across the 16-month follow-up compared with assessment only. There were no significant differences between the two active treatment conditions. Changes in proportional reinforcement from substance-related activities, and protective behavioral strategies mediated treatment effects.
conclusionTwo-session (plus booster) interventions that combine BMI and either substance-free activity enhancement or RT can result in enduring reductions in alcohol misuse among college drinkers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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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.