Peer-Led Intervention To Reduce Alcohol Binge Drinking Among University Students In Romania

Peer-Led Intervention To Reduce Alcohol Binge Drinking Among University Students In Romania- A Pilot Study Of The Implementation Processes

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a behavioural intervention to change binge drinking habits in university students in Romania is feasible. The main research question is:

Is a peer-led Alcohol Brief Intervention feasible to be implemented in a Romanian University to reduce binge drinking among students?

Researchers will compare brief intervention (counselling) to no intervention.

Student participants will:

1. Receive brief counselling for 15-20 minutes by their peers who were trained.
2. Report their alcohol consumption levels in three surveys conducted over three months.

Pre-intervention focus group discussions: Students will be involved in group discussions, up to 90 minutes, to share their perspective on binge drinking.

Pre-intervention co-design workshop: Students will be involved in a 3-hour workshop to co-design messages to be used during the brief advice intervention.

University staff will be invited to participate in in-depth interviews lasting up to 60 minutes.

Intervention:

Student participants- They will be administered a pre-intervention survey lasting approximately 60-minutes by research assistants, a 15-20 minutes brief advice/counselling session by their peers, a midline survey of 5 minutes, and an endline survey of approximately 60 minutes administered by research assistants. these students will be invited to take part in a focus group at the end of the intervention lasting 90 minutes.

Peers- Peers are students who volunteered to deliver the brief counselling to other students. They will first undergo training by motivational interviewing experts for approximately 6-8 hours spread across 2 days. We intend to recruit 4 peers and each one will deliver the brief advice to 15 students, each session lasting 15-20 minutes. The peers will then be invited to participate in a focus group discussion lasting up to 90 minutes at the end of the intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

• University students currently enrolled in full-time undergraduate or postgraduate programs at Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania
• Able to provide informed consent
• Willing to participate in an in-person session
• Alcohol status: AUDIT-C scoring 3 or above in females, 4 or above in males

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students currently receiving treatment for alcohol dependence or any other substance use disorder
• Students with a diagnosed severe mental health condition that may impair participation
• Participation in any similar alcohol reduction program in the past 6 months.
• Abstinent from alcohol consumption.