Text-based Alcohol Prevention for First Year College Students

This project aims to combat excessive perceived norms that contribute to high volume drinking by young adults, which adversely affects health and academic achievement. Campus-specific survey data will be used to craft accurate, pro-moderation campus norms, and deliver them to first-year students via daily text messages during the first semester of college. It is predicted that those receiving regular exposure to pro-moderation drinking norms will reduce their alcohol consumption and consequences, relative to students who receive non-alcohol-related control texts. This preliminary evaluation uses a novel method of delivering drinking norms and will lay the groundwork for future efforts to scale up this novel alcohol misuse prevention approach.