Research
The Heads UP Program consists of several research projects funded by various institutes including the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), US Department of Education, and the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation. As part of this research, we are responsible for disseminating our results and have therefore published several articles outlining our research methods and findings. Click on the links to read about some key findings!
The following papers have been published in professionally-reviewed journals and were funded by the NIAAA:
1. LaBrie, J. W., Earleywine, M. E., Lamb, T., & Shelesky, K (2006). Comparing electronic-keypad responses to paper-and-pencil questionnaires in group assessments of alcohol consumption and related attitudes. Addictive Behaviors.
This study was based out of a pilot study we did with students in PSYC101 classes to see if using our newly acquired electronic keypad system (OptionFinder) assessed drinking behavior and attitudes as well as traditional paper-and-pencil questionnaires. We found that the two formats led to almost identical responses that did not differ significantly from each other (all effect sizes less than g = .15) and high correlations between formats. The wireless, handheld keypad procedure appears to generate data that are as valid as questionnaire responses and permit rapid feedback to groups, as well as easy, human error-free data entry for analysis.
2. Labrie, J. W., Pedersen, E. and Tawalbeh, S. (2007) Classifying Risky-Drinking College Students: Another Look at the Two-Week Drinker-Type Categorization, Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs 68, 86-90
Examines the potential problems and ineffectiveness of the current two-week time period used in the categorization of heavy episodic drinking among college students. Research has used the last two weeks of behavior to label “binge drinkers” among college students. We decided to test whether this two-week drinker type labels would hold up over another two-week period of behavior for students. Three samples from the Heads UP datasets were used and drinking behavior during the last two weeks of the month prior to the study was compared to drinking behavior during the first two weeks of the same month to display inconsistencies in drinker type labels across a month of behavior. Inconsistencies existed in drinker type labels during the first two weeks of the month and the last two weeks of the month for all three samples. Between 40% and 50% of participants in the three samples were classified as a different drinker type across the month. We suggest modifying the current drinker-type label as it based on too brief of a time period to get an accurate idea of individual student’s drinking behavior.
3. Pedersen, E. R., & LaBrie, J. W. (2006, in press). Drinking game participation among college students: Gender and ethnic implications. Addictive Behaviors, 31, 2105-2115.
Previous research indicates that women play drinking games at lower frequencies than men, but we found that college women may be playing games at rates similar to college men. Both men and women engaged in drinking games at similar rates and consumed more drinks on game playing days than on non-game drinking days. However, drinking game participation was related to alcohol-related consequences in women only. Further, while Caucasian participants played drinking games more often than non-Caucasian participants, an association between game participation and alcohol-related consequences emerged in non-Caucasian participants. I
4. LaBrie, J. W., Pedersen, E. R., Earleywine, M., & Olsen, H. (2006). Reducing heavy drinking in college males with the decisional balance: Analyzing an element of Motivational Interviewing. Addictive Behaviors, 31, 254-263.
Describes the utility of using the decisional balance, a component of Motivational Interviewing, to elicit change talk and reduce heavy drinking among male college students. One-month follow-up data showed that participants had statistically significant and clinically meaningful increases in their motivation to alter drinking and decreases in the number of drinks that they intended to drink, the actual drinks consumed per month, the days per month that they drank, their maximum number of drinks consumed on one occasion, and their average number of drinks per occasion. They did not alter their sexual behavior or their motivation to increase safe sex behavior, even though both drinking and sex behavior was assessed at baseline. These results suggest that the decisional balance plays an important role in motivational interviewing and could serve as a quick and efficient intervention by itself.
5. LaBrie, J. W., Pedersen, E., & Lamb, T., Bove, E. (2006). Heads UP! A nested intervention with freshmen male college students to promote responsible drinking. Journal of American College Health, 54, 301-304.
This article describes in detail the Heads UP intervention with freshmen male college students. Results are not included as it is published in the journal as a “Clinical and Program Note,” which explains the program in detail so that other institutions of higher education may adopt similar programs on their own campuses. Describes the Heads UP program in detail; specifically the group intervention with freshmen males and the campus community support surrounding the intervention.
6. Pedersen, E. R., & LaBrie, J. W. (2006). A within-subjects validation of a group administered Timeline Followback for alcohol use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(2), 332-335.
We ran a mall research study through the psychology subject pool to test the reliability and validity of this method of administration. This was based out of research we found and published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol the year before, which compared the group Timeline Followback to single-item self-reports of behavior. Participants were counter-balanced to receive the individual Timeline Followback and the group Timeline Followback. Drinking variables assessed were drinking days, average drinks, total drinks, and maximum drinks consumed both during a three-month (90 days) and a one-month (30 days) period. Repeated measures analyses revealed no differences within subjects between the individual TLFB and the group TLFB on any of the four assessed drinking variables in the past three months and the past one month. Pearson's correlation coefficients revealed strong and significant correlations between the two administration styles. Heavy episodic drinking behavior was similar across administration styles as well. No differences between administration styles were consistent regardless of which administration was received first. The “Brief Report” provided support for the group-administered TLFB which could be used in clinical and research settings as an efficient means of collecting information from large numbers of individuals.
7. LaBrie, J.W., Huchting, K., Pedersen, E. R., Hummer, J. F., Shelesky, K., & Tawalbeh, S. (2007). Female college drinking and the social learning theory: An examination of the developmental transition period from high school to college. Journal of College Student Development, 48 (3), 344-356
Problematic drinking among college students remains a national issue with large percentages of college students reporting heavy episodic or binge drinking (Wechsler,Dowdall,Davenport, & Castillo, 1995) and experiencing severe alcohol-related consequences ranging from poor academic performance, to sexual assault, vandalism, and even death (Hingson, Heeren, Winter, & Wechsler, 2005; Wechsler et al., 2002). According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA, 2002), the first 6 weeks on a college campus are critical to first-year student success. However, during these first weeks many students initiate heavy drinking that may interfere with their ability to adapt to campus life, and patterns of drinking established during these first weeks persist throughout college (Schulenberg et al., 2001). Approximately one third of first-year students fail to enroll for their second year due to difficulties with the transition to college (Upcraft, 1995). Drinking may compromise successful negotiation of the transition into college and therefore jeopardize overall collegiate success. Therefore, the ability to identify specific students as they enter college who may develop problematic drinking patterns and related negative consequences would allow student affairs personnel to more effectively design and target riskreduction programs and interventions.
The following papers have been published in professionally-reviewed journals and were funded by the US Department of Education:
1. LaBrie, J. W., Earleywine, M., Schiffman, J., Pedersen, E. R., & Marriot, C. (2005). The effects of alcohol, expectancies, and partner type on condom use in college males: An event level study. Journal of Sex Research, 42(3), 259-266.
We found that alcohol consumption, expectancies about alcohol’s impact on condom use, and partner type each contributed to use of a condom. Partner type covaried with alcohol consumption and condom use. The men consumed significantly more alcohol with new partners, followed by casual partners, and then by regular partners. In contrast, they were more likely to use condoms with new partners than with casual or regular partners. Drinking alcohol decreased condom use, but only with casual partners. Expectancies about alcohol’s disinhibiting sexual effects decreased condom use as well. These data suggest that alcohol consumption does decrease condom use, particularly with casual partners and when drinkers believe alcohol alters sexual disinhibition.
Examines the interaction between partner type (new, casual, and regular) and social expectancies of alcohol use on drinking behavior.
2. LaBrie, J. W., Lamb, T. F., Pedersen, E. R., & Quinlan, T. (2006). A group Motivational Interviewing intervention reduces drinking and alcohol-related consequences in adjudicated college students. Journal of College Student Development, 47(3), 267-280.
Examines the effectiveness of a singlesession group motivational enhancement intervention with college students adjudicated for violation of alcohol policy. The intervention consisted of a Timeline Followback assessment of drinking, social norms re-education, decisional balance for behavior change, relapse prevention, expectancy challenge, and the generation of behavioral goals. All participants evidenced significant reductions in drinking from baseline through one and three month follow-up. Male participants and frequent binge drinkers showed the largest and most sustained reductions in drinking behavior. The results of this study provide tentative evidence for the effectiveness of group motivational enhancement interventions with adjudicated students.
3. LaBrie, J., Pedersen, E., & Earleywine, M. (2005). A group-administered Timeline Followback assessment of alcohol use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66, 693-697.
Compares retrospective self-reports of quantity and frequency of drinking with the Timeline Followback method administered in groups or to individuals to determine the equivalence of the two methods. Drinking variables assessed were drinking days, average drinks, and total drinks during a 30-day period. Significant correlations between single-item quantity and frequency measures and the Timeline Followback on all three variables for the two administration styles were found. Further, the group Timeline Followback yielded similar correlations to self-reports as the individual Timeline Followback on drinking days and average drinks. The study suggests that the group TLFB yields an accurate portrayal of students’ quantity, but not frequency, of use. In addition, the group-administered TLFB has the potential to parallel individual interviews and serve as an efficient means of collecting information. Due to this suggestion of ours, we followed up this manuscript with the within-subjects study described above.Provides support for the use of a group-administered assessment of alcohol use by examining comparable self-reported drinking data to Timeline Followback data across two samples.
4. LaBrie, J. W., Pedersen, E. R., Lamb, T., & Quinlan, T. (2007). A campus- based motivational enhancement group reduces problematic drinking among freshmen male college students. Addictive Behaviors, 32, 889-901.
This article describes the main effects from Year 1 of Heads UP with the freshmen male students who received the intervention. It is the first empirical study to cite the effectiveness of a group-based motivational enhancement intervention with freshmen male students. All participants reduced drinking and alcohol-related problems at one and three month follow-ups; heavier drinkers and those experiencing the most alcohol-related problems reduced drinking most. Additionally, freshmen who completed the intervention were less likely than their non-intervention freshmen male peers to commit alcohol-related violations of campus policies.
5. LaBrie, J. W., Quinlan, T., Schiffman, J., & Earleywine, M. (2005). Performance of alcohol and safer sex rulers compared to readiness to change questionnaires. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 19(1), 112-115.
As part of a larger intervention study, the authors hypothesized that change rulers created for alcohol and safer sex would be equivalent to longer questionnaires. Ninety-six male college students completed rulers and questionnaires for assessing behavior change readiness. Participants’ scores on the rulers significantly correlated with their scores on the questionnaires. In both domains, the rulers outperformed the questionnaires in predicting behavioral intentions, suggesting that the rulers had at least comparable concurrent criterion validity. This finding is the first of its kind in the safe sex literature and suggests that quick assessments of readiness to change are possible. Because the rulers are a continuous measure, the results are consistent with the idea that the change process is continuous rather than a series of discrete stages.
6. LaBrie, J. W., Tawalbeh, S., & Earleywine, M. (2006). Differentiating adjudicated from non-adjudicated freshmen men: The role of alcohol expectancies, tension, and concern about health.
Journal of College Student Development, 47(5), 521-533.
In this study, 154 male college freshmen [mean age 18.01 (SD = .50); 63% (n = 54) Caucasian], 68 of whom had been adjudicated for violating alcohol policies, completed an initial questionnaire assessing demographic characteristics and beliefs about drinking as well as a Timeline Followback of previous drinking behavior. Compared to the 86 nonadjudicated participants, adjudicated men were more likely to be Caucasian, from higher income families, involved in heavy drinking, and higher on positive alcohol expectancies. They reported less concern about their health and less tension. A logistic regression with these variables successfully distinguished between the two groups. Health and tension items alone correctly classified the groups almost as well. Results suggest that simple assessments about tension and concern for health may identify male students in need of prevention efforts.
7. LaBrie, J. W., Schiffman, S., Earleywine, M. (2002). Expectancies Specific to Condom Use Mediate the Alcohol Sexual Risk Relationship. Journal of Sex Research Column 39(2), 145-152.
This study tested the role of alcohol expectancies for condom use in mediating the alcohol and risky sex relationship. Expectancies for condom use are specific anticipations for alcohol's effect on one's ability to use a condom. College students (N = 563) reported on beliefs, intentions and actual sexual and drinking behavior. Among the sexually active, alcohol was directly related to future intention to use a condom in drinking situations for men, but not for women. In the men, alcohol expectancies for condom use mediated the relationship between drinking and condom intention. Beliefs that alcohol negatively impacts one's ability to use condoms were associated with more drinking and lower intentions to use a condom. These expectancies may help explain how alcohol affects risky sex in men. Gender differences and implications are discussed.
The following papers have been published in professionally-reviewed journals and were funded by the NIAAA and the US Department of Education:
1. LaBrie, J. W., Hummer, J. F., & Pedersen, E. R. (2007). Reasons for drinking in the college student context: The differential role and risk of the social motivator. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 63(3), 393-398.
This study examines the relationship between reasons for drinking, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences in two college-aged samples. Personal motivators such as mood enhancement and coping (tension reduction) have consistently been shown to predict problematic use, but because of the salient nature of social drinking in college, we hypothesized that social reasons for drinking would be most frequently endorsed and, in turn, predict negative consequences. It was found that drinking to be social with friends has a more detrimental effect than previously considered and may help explain risky drinking and behavioral consequences among college students. A deeper understanding of the factors surrounding this outcome could add to the effectiveness of preventative intervention programs on college campuses.
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