Using Counter Attitudinal Advocacy to Change Drinking Behavior

Status Recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

High volume drinking by young adults has proven resistant to change, so new approaches are needed. We adapt a theory-based attitude change strategy for use in alcohol prevention. This research tests the impact of brief writing and advocacy activities on subsequent drinking and negative consequences.

Clinical Trial Description

The persistence of risky drinking among young adults in college calls for continued efforts to prevent harms related to alcohol. Many prevention interventions rely on a primary mechanism of change: correcting exaggerated drinking norms. We propose to test a novel prevention strategy targeting another mechanism of change: creating attitude-behavior dissonance. To date, attitude change activities have not been harnessed as a behavior change strategy for alcohol abuse prevention, so this study adapts counter-attitudinal advocacy (CAA) to the alcohol prevention context. The goals of the proposed research are to demonstrate (a) the utility of CAA to change high volume drinking and related consequences, (b) that attitude change and attitude-behavior dissonance mediates the CAA manipulation effect, and (c) that CAA-induced risk reduction is not inferior to an established intervention based on Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF). A pair of studies will be implemented across two sites. First surveys to document peer behaviors and normative perceptions (N = 500 at each site) will be conducted, in order to deliver accurate, campus-specific PNF. The next study consists of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 2 experimental conditions (CAA and PNF) and a 3rd assessment only control condition to determine the impact of CAA on alcohol outcomes. For the RCT, a total of 600 heavy drinking students who have endorsed alcohol-related negative consequences will be recruited. Alcohol outcomes will be assessed at 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-ups to test hypotheses that, relative to assessment only control, the CAA manipulation will decrease alcohol consumption and consequences. We will also test the hypothesis that CAA condition will be no less efficacious than (i.e., not inferior to) the PNF condition. The RCT also allows tests of hypotheses about effect moderators and mediators. This study will demonstrate the generalizability of CAA activities to the alcohol prevention context, as well as their generalizability across demographically different settings. Implications for the public health include establishing the efficacy of a new approach for reducing high volume drinking and related consequences among young adults. ;

Study Design

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

Clinical Trial Details

NCT number	NCT04042909
Study type	Interventional
Source	Brown University
Contact	Kate B Carey, PhD
Phone	401-863-6558
Email	kate_carey@brown.edu
Status	Recruiting
Phase	N/A
Start date	November 12, 2019
Completion date	December 30, 2022

View Details

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Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.

Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.