An Intervention to Decrease Heavy Episodic Drinking in College Students: The Effect of Executive Function Training.

Objective: To develop and test a planning-ability, executive function (EF) intervention to reduce heavy episodic drinking (HED).Participants: Fifty-five heavy-drinking, first-year college students, recruited from May to October 2012.Methods: Participants were randomly allocated to an experimental or...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of American College Health Vol. 63; no. 4; pp. 280 - 285
Autores principales: Black, Nicola, Mullan, Barbara
Formato: research tables/charts randomized controlled trial Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd May/Jun2015
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Objective: To develop and test a planning-ability, executive function (EF) intervention to reduce heavy episodic drinking (HED).Participants: Fifty-five heavy-drinking, first-year college students, recruited from May to October 2012.Methods: Participants were randomly allocated to an experimental or active control group and then completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test–Consumption and demographic questions. Over 1 week, the experimental group completed 4 progressively harder planning tasks, whereas the control group completed 4 easier, consistent-difficulty planning tasks. Participants then recorded their daily alcohol consumption for 2 weeks.Results: As hypothesized, both mean and maximum per-occasion alcohol consumption was significantly reduced in the experimental group compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in frequency of HED.Conclusions: These results provide initial support for the use of a planning-ability intervention in decreasing per-occasion alcohol consumption. Future researchers can examine the mechanism of effect, the long-term efficacy, and the specific EFs involved in other aspects of alcohol consumption.