Attitudes & College Experiences

Using Counter Attitudinal Advocacy to Change Drinking Behavior & Related Problems

High volume drinking by young adults has proven resistant to long term change, so new approaches are needed. Given strong associations between alcohol-related attitudes and drinking behavior, the investigators adapt a theory-based attitude change strategy for use in alcohol prevention. This research tests the impact of a brief counter attitudinal advocacy activity on subsequent drinking and negative consequences.

The persistence of risky drinking among young adults in college calls for continued efforts to prevent harms related to alcohol. Current prevention interventions have achieved some success, but rely on a single mechanism of change: correcting exaggerated drinking norms. The investigators propose to test a novel prevention strategy targeting another mechanism of change: creating attitude-behavior dissonance. To date, changing alcohol-related attitudes and the resulting attitude-behavior discrepancy has been underutilized as a behavior change strategy for alcohol abuse prevention. Informed by an extensive literature showing strong and consistent associations between alcohol attitudes and drinking behavior, the investigators adapted a brief counter-attitudinal advocacy (CAA) manipulation to the alcohol prevention context.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18-24 years of age
• Enrolled in the university's undergraduate four-year degree program
• Past month heavy episodic drinking (for men, >5 drinks in one day, for women >4 drinks in one day)
• At least two self-reported negative consequence from drinking in the past month

Exclusion Criteria:

• Status as a graduating senior